No Longer the Zeppo 3
by Shannon K
Summary: This is the 3rd intallment of my NLTZ series.  Xander is happily living in San Francisco but unfortunately for him, his Hellmouthy past rears is ugly head, disrupting his life.  Read and review please!
1. Prologue

No Longer the Zeppo 3

By Shannon K

A/N: This is a sequel to No Longer the Zeppo and No Longer the Zeppo 2, BTVS/Kindred the Embraced crossover stories. It might be best if you read the first two stories to understand where I am going with this one. I am setting this story about three years, approximately, after No Longer the Zeppo 2 which was set three years after the closing of the Hellmouth.

Xander is my primary focus in this story once again. I am not a true Buffy-hater; I just like the character of Xander more. I also enjoy the characters of Dawn and Tara (which was another under utilized character in the show). All three characters are fun to write and have more possibilities than the characters of Buffy and Willow. Characters not from BTVS refer to Xander as Alex, as a way to show that he has changed, and is no longer the goof-ball that the Sunnydale people still associate him as being; however Dawn and Tara will occasionally slip and call him Xander because of the familiarity between them. I plan on trying to make this a darker story while staying true to the spirit of the characters. Hopefully this will work out. If you find any thing that is horrifyingly wrong (especially when I describe San Francisco – even though I just went there on vacation – woo-hoo, my first trip by myself and to the West Coast!), please let me know or just chalk it up to my bizarre imagination. I always appreciate comments and constructive criticisms, so feel free to hit the review button or send me a private message. I tend to reply in as timely of a manner as I can manage and I hope you know how much I appreciate the time you took to do so.

Disclaimer: I do not own BTVS and Kindred the Embraced. Their respective characters belong to richer, luckier people. If I did, I wouldn't be working for the public school system. However, any characters that you don't readily recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warnings: Potty language, violence, blood, brief sexuality, and mild gore

Anyhow, on with the story…

* * *

Prologue

Alex, Emily, and Alexia were sitting there on the couch, watching, for possibly the thousandth time, Finding Nemo, Alexia's favorite movie. It was only 7:30 at night and even though tomorrow was a school day, the adults said that she could watch the movie until her bedtime, 8:00 pm sharp.

Alexia was currently sitting on Emily's lap as she watched the movie while having her hair long brown hair combed out from having her hair washed earlier. She sat there transfixed by the movie, watching Nemo trying to escape from the dentist's nutty niece.

"Fish in hair! Fish in hair," Alexia crowed, repeating the movie's dialogue, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Lexi, would you please sit still?" Emily asked, exasperated, trying to untangle the girl's hair with a wide-toothed comb but was being thwarted by a wriggling five year old.

Alex, once known as Xander in his youth, sat there, not watching the movie for it had lost its charm after seeing it a hundred times before. Instead, he sat there, contented to watch his daughter, marveling how lucky he was to have such a precious thing like her.

He also watched his partner (she was far beyond the girlfriend stage, but they weren't legally married, and mate was so bestial, therefore partner was the best he could come up with), Emily. He had brought an unexpected child, from a previous relationship, into _their_ relationship and while many people would run far away, she had welcomed the girl and embraced the idea that she could be a mother to someone. For all intents and purposes (and legality), Emily was Alexia's mother in every way possible but through genetics. Alexia even referred to her as her mom.

Over all, despite the peculiarities that their family held, they formed a tight-knit unit, intensely loyal and highly protective of each other.

So as of right now, they sat there, watching the movie, enjoying each other's company, if not the movie.

In the middle of the scene where Nemo was busy trying to save himself and the tuna from the fishermen, the phone rang.

Alex reached blindly down by his side to grab the phone that he had earlier tossed onto the floor. He looked at the caller id display but did not recognize the number.

"Yeah?" he asked, not really caring how rude he sounded. He knew it wasn't his mother or anybody he knew in San Francisco, so he really didn't care if he pissed them off.

"Xander?" a crying voice asked.

"Yes?" he asked, sitting up straighter. Nobody called him Xander anymore – except for a certain few.

"It's Dawn. I need your help," the young woman sobbed. "Buffy and Willow are dead."

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think (despite the shortness of it)? Hit the shiny review button and let me know. I can already hear some people cry foul at this, but bear with me please! 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language

* * *

Alex checked his watch impatiently. Dawn's United Airlines flight was due to arrive at Gate 32 any minute and he was nervous. He hadn't seen her for over three years, though they had kept in touch through occasional emails.

He didn't know what had happened. Dawn had given him the brief details over the phone. They had been in Naples, a week before, having been sent there by Giles. They had gone to a church looking for some sort of relic or amulet, and then something happened, something real bad.

They had been ambushed. Buffy and Willow had been covering their retreat, allowing Tara and Dawn to escape. Suddenly a monster of some sort came from out of nowhere, grabbed Buffy, and killed her.

What happened next, Alex wasn't too sure for Dawn had been crying way too hard for him to be able to follow the story. However, from what he could make out, the life had been literally sucked out of one or both women, draining them of their energy. After that, Dawn had succumbed to hysterical crying. A strange girl, presumably a slayer had taken away the phone from Dawn and relayed Dawn's flight information.

So, now he was here, waiting for Dawn Summers to arrive. A part of him wanted to kick him-self in frustration and annoyance for telling the girl that she was welcome at his home. Despite the fact that he loved Dawn dearly, for she had been a loyal and true friend when the others had turned their backs on them for their own reasons, he did not welcome the chaos that would soon follow the former Sunnydale resident.

While he did not mind helping Cash and Luna keep order in the city by preventing demons from opening up pathways from their own personal hells in Golden Gate State Park and helping out Taylor, the local vampire slayer in taking out Primordials, he did not want disorder in his life. More importantly, he did not want to see Alexia's well-being threatened by whatever cataclysmic event that Dawn was bringing with her.

And on top of it all, Buffy, the oldest surviving slayer in history had died, along with his childhood friend, Willow. At least it could be said that they died saving others, fighting the good fight to the very end. While they hadn't been friends in a long time, the thought of Buffy and Willow no longer being alive, helping to protect the world from evil left him a tremendous feeling of sadness and emptiness in his chest.

He suddenly realized that he was the last of the Scoobies, the originals. That thought alone almost brought him to his knees in the middle of the airport.

_XanderXanderXander_

After Alex checked the arrival/departure boards for possibly the millionth time, Dawn made an appearance, with Tara trailing behind her. Both girls looked haggard, which Alex knew immediately that it wasn't from the long flight.

Dawn, taller than she had been when Alex had seen her last, was still rail thin, with long light brown hair, and jewel-blue eyes, but she was no longer the young teenager she had been. She was now nineteen years old, a young woman who had clearly seen and experienced way too much in her short life (technically she was only six years old). Her eyes were red, with dark circles underneath them. Her hair was tied back in a sloppy pony tail and her nails had been bitten down severely.

Tara, Alex noted, looked God-awful. Her eyes and nose were both red and her skin was blotchy. She actually had bags underneath her eyes and her clothes hung off her frame. It looked as if she hadn't slept or eaten in nearly a week. Both women looked like a wreck, but Tara's appearance was frightening.

"Xander," Dawn said as soon as she passed through security and promptly burst into tears. Tara was not far behind her, already crying herself.

Alex did the only thing he could. He immediately engulfed the both of them in a hug, letting them, literally, cry on his shoulder. A couple of people gave them dirty looks for blocking their way, but he viciously glared at them, daring them to say anything; nobody did.

When there was a small break in their sobbing, Alex asked them if they had eaten yet.

Both Tara and Dawn shook their head in the negative.

Alex then picked up their bags, slinging the straps across his chest easily. The luggage, while quite hefty, did not tax his strength. "Come on. Let's go get you guys fed, and then we'll sit down and try to figure things out."

_XanderXanderXander_

He took them to an Applebee's that was near the airport. Both women just picked at their food. It took tons of cajoling too get them to eat just a few bites. It wasn't about the money wasted. He was truly worried about their physical health.

Alex had even placed an order for himself in hopes that they would see him eat and be motivated to do the same. He also did it so it would be less awkward for them about him being different. Since Alexia had come into their lives, he and Emily had taken up eating human food on a more regular basis, so the sudden ingestion of food would not come as a total shock to his system. Also, he figured that if eating did go south for him, the bathroom wasn't too far away for a quick binge and purge moment.

"You eat food?" Dawn asked, watching Alex eat the Fiesta Lime Chicken.

Alex shrugged. "Yeah," he said. "It doesn't do me any good you know, but it helps hide things. Also, we started eating to encourage Alexia to clear her plate. She went through a picky phase a while back."

Tara and Dawn picked at their food, neither of them had much of an appetite. When Alex couldn't no longer cajole either of them to eat anymore, he paid their tab, his treat he had said, and they left Crapplebee's (also known as Applebee's).

Alex drove them through San Francisco, in his new SUV – a dark grey Ford Explorer (a vehicle he had been loath to get, but he needed the room to haul Alexia, her friends, bikes, tools, not to mention his more specialized gear and weapons), occasionally pointing out landmarks and points of interest. It vaguely reminded him of when he had come up to San Francisco to visit Emily and she had played the role of tourist guide for him. Granted that time had been a much happier time for everyone. Back then, although he had been thoroughly pissed at the Sunnydale gang and looking for an out from the group, he didn't have an excruciating ache in his chest that he now had. _It all depends on perspective_, he thought to himself. He had been miserable back then, but nothing compared to what he was feeling now.

He and Emily had moved since the Sunnydale residents had been in the city. They figured that the less those from Alex's past knew where to find him specifically, the better.

So they moved to the area near Sutro Heights Park and Golden Gate Park, within shouting distance of the Dutch Windmill and gave them a spectacular view of the beach and the Pacific Ocean. It was close enough that they could smell the salty air, yet give them easy access to Golden Gate Park and an urban setting for their more nocturnal activities. The new home also was a good place, they decided, for Alexia to grow up in, less crowded and healthier. Also, they all loved the area.

Back at his home, he let them in the house. Emily was there to greet him with a kiss and a gentle and sympathetic hug for both Dawn and Tara. She had nothing against the humans; in fact she was very grateful to them for being the ones to be honest with Alex and telling him about Alexia.

"Alexia wants you to kiss her good night," Emily announced.

While Alex went off to be a father to his daughter, Emily showed Dawn the small guest room-slash-office that would be hers while Tara stayed in their bedroom. Tara tried to object, saying that the couch would be good enough for her. Emily rebuffed her protests, saying that she needed the sleep more than they and that the couch would be just fine for Alex and she would be taking the air mattress (which was infinitely more comfortable than the couch).

Once they were situated they all went downstairs to the living room. Alex sat in the arm chair while Emily sat in the rocking chair that Alex had made for her a couple of years ago. The humans sat on the couch, both of them looking miserable and lost.

Alex looked at them in sympathy. They had obviously been through hell and back, but he needed and wanted some answers. "Can you tell me what happened?" he asked careful to keep his tone gentle.

Dawn looked at him with eyes brimming with tears. "It happened about a week ago," she said, beginning the tale of what had happened to the oldest surviving slayer and her best friend, Willow.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know.

Just remember that it is early in the story and I will be revealing the ins and outs over several chapters. I hate it when everything is revealed immediately and there is no buildup, conflict, or even a bit of mystery. I like a story to be developed over time and I move slowly.

And, yes, the area I described briefly of their "new home" does exist and is beyond spectacular. If I ever win the lottery (and remember to actually by a ticket since I don't like to actually gamble) I am buying a home there. Also, with creating this new home is in response to a couple of comments in NLTZ 2 about how easy it was for Buffy and company to find Xander. I don't feel that it was bad how I had it, so this should not be construed as a correction, but as a sign of change and growth for the characters and symbolic of them creating a home and family.

Thanks for reading and thank you to everyone for their support, encouragement, and ideas. I truly appreciate it (thank you especially to Bumpkin and Trimma for your support).


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and violence

* * *

"I want you to go to Naples. It'll be easy," Buffy muttered, kicking at a tiny stone that had the audacity to be in the way with her brand new boots. She was frustrated that she was out on a mission for Giles. She had pretty much retired from active slaying duties, preferring to train the girls and having a life that was not all about constant peril. Hell, she even got to go out on the occasional date or two these days. Instead, Giles had asked her to go up to Naples and help in the search for an ancient relic that he had heard rumors about.

The relic, according to Giles, gave the possessor the ability to transfer supernatural energy from one being into another. He had heard about this amulet, or potential weapon, from one of his more shady contacts in the underworld. He had heard that there were some creatures that were under contract to find it. He also heard that the time for the amulet to be the most powerful was in two weeks. Apparently, they were on a deadline.

Giles did not want the object to be used against any of his Slayers and felt that it was too dangerous to be out there in the general population. He did not know exactly where it was, but he had a list of possible sites where it could be found. Therefore he had sent as many Slayers that could be spared across Europe to look for it, including Buffy.

Deciding to make the best of it, she brought Willow, Tara, and Dawn along, hoping to make it into a mini holiday of sorts.

Right now they were standing in front of San Giovanni de Baptiste, a small chapel located in the heart of the city, built out of limestone and expert masonry. According to the tourist literature, it had been built in the early thirteenth century, on top of a Roman temple dedicated to Maia. Also, there were the remains of a saint, Saint James of the Marches buried within the chapel itself.

It was early evening on a Saturday, just after evening mass had let out. The doors were still unlocked, allowing free passage; therefore nobody had to kick the heavy wooden doors open. It saved the parish from the expense of repairing the damage.

"Spread out," Buffy ordered. "The sooner we locate this thing, the sooner we can go back to the hotel, and then out for a night of fun."

"What does it look like again? And why is it in a church?" Dawn asked, flipping a lock of hair back from her face and sticking her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, a very American gesture.

"The amulet is round and gold, with some weird carvings on it and a blue sapphire in the middle. According to Giles, it is about so big in diameter," Buffy explained, holding her hands about four to five inches apart. "If you find it, don't touch it with your bare hands. We don't know exactly what it can all do, so be safe about it. It's here supposedly because some priests dedicated to the Passion, what ever that is, guarded it once upon a time placed it here thinking that the church, with the presence of a holy person and the Body and Blood of Christ would be enough to protect it from harm. This is just one of the places it could be. Giles has others looking for it in other places."

The four of them spread out across the church, each taking a section, north, south, east, or west. None of them noticed two shadows moving across the altar area, avoiding any direct light, least one of the humans notice them. They weren't even real shadows, more of a hint that something was not right.

"Who's buried here?" Dawn asked, staring down at the marker in the middle of the isle at the front of the church.

"St. James of the Marches is s-supposed to be buried here," Tara explained.

"Okay. Who is he?" Dawn asked, curious.

"A Saint of the Church," Tara shrugged and consulted her tourist guide brochure. "It says something about the Precious Blood. I don't know exactly what that means."

"Can we have a little less of the chatty and a bit more of the look-y?" Buffy called out, annoyed that the others weren't doing their job.

Dawn rolled her eyes and would have replied with something smart and offensive but remembered that she was in a church. Her mother didn't raise her to be sacrilegious.

Finally the four women also moved to the alter area, looking everywhere. Finally, since they couldn't find it out in the open Tara moved to the tabernacle. Even though it wasn't her faith, she felt guilty for disturbing such a sacred space.

Inside, Tara found an object she was sure didn't belong with the consecrated wine and Host. It was flat, about five inches across and wrapped in a scrap of brown leather.

Tara carefully un-wrapped the item, revealing a gold medallion with some odd writing, ancient by the looks of it and a gleaming blue stone in the center.

"Buffy," called and handed it over to the Slayer, careful to keep the leather between her hands and the metal.

"Looks kind of tacky if you ask me," Buffy said, shrugging her shoulders.

"No one did, worm," a voice whispered near-by.

All three women jumped at the strange voice. They all looked around wildly, but did not see anyone.

"Let's go," Buffy ordered, feeling the tingly sensation her spidey sense was giving off, warning her of imminent danger.

With Dawn and Tara in the lead, they headed back up the aisle to the back to the church and out the door. Willow was next and Buffy was last, watching their six, trailing behind everyone.

Right as Dawn and Tara reached the nave, Buffy let out a scream that was part terror and part extreme pain.

They all turned around to see what had made Buffy scream like that.

What they saw made them all scream.

It was a monster, a zombie-like creature that had a hold of Buffy, touching her bare skin on her arms. It was gray and dead looking, with a bald head and pointed ears. The thing's eyes were sunken and dark, as if the irises no longer existed – they were all pupil. The skin itself was sagging, parts of it was ripped and rotting, reminding them of something from a George Romero movie. It was one of the grosser monsters they had seen.

The teeth though were something else, unlike any zombie they had ever encountered, yet at the same time, very familiar. The teeth were sharp and pointed, complete with fangs. They looked like a vampire's teeth, but only in the mouth of a zombie.

A second creature, similar in nastiness appeared out of nowhere, as if it had been previously invisible. It too grabbed hold of Buffy with its vicious looking clawed, twisted and mangled hands.

As they watched Buffy struggle ineffectively against the zombies, something happened.

Buffy's very essence, all of her power and strength was drained from her body and into them. They could actually see the transfer as if were a physical thing. Buffy's energy, a golden glow poured from her, into them. Her struggles became weaker and weaker. Her skin turned a shade of gray-blue that belonged on the dying, not someone in the prime of their life. She no longer had her Slayer strength to help her fight these attackers. She couldn't even find the strength to stand.

Finally when no more energy could be drained from her body, when Buffy was at her weakest and collapsed on the floor, the first zombie-vampire monster reached down and with a quick snap, broke the neck of the longest lived Slayer in history.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was dead.

"No!" Willow screamed. That one simple word conveyed all sorts of hurt.

Dawn also screamed in anguish, seeing her sister killed in front of her. Tara could only hold on to Dawn, keeping her from rushing at Buffy's killers.

Willow seeing her friend fall, and not having anyone to physically hold her back (not that it would have done any good) raced towards her friend's killers, determined that these monsters pay with their lives.

Her eyes turned black and her skin turned all vein-y as she started to chant, calling upon the dark forces. Her body glowed as energy coursed through her. The Wiccan called upon Durga to assist her in destroying those that defiled the church by killing her best friend.

The zombies, not mindless of the danger before them, backed away from the woman and headed back down the aisle, with the medallion, still wrapped in its leather covering, clutched in the lead one's hand.

As Willow marched down the aisle, bolts of lightening shot out from her at random, striking the antique frescos on the wall and blowing out the stained glass windows. Her long skirt was flapping in a non-existent breeze as her hair was whipped back from her face.

When she reached the t-junction of the aisle, she stopped. The zombies were directly in front of her, no more than fifteen feet away.

Tara, realizing what Willow was standing directly on top of, shouted at her to stop.

Mindless of the danger, Willow drew more power into herself and focused on the ghouls.

Just as she let go and tried to hit Buffy's killers with her power, something strange happened.

White light poured up from the floor, bifurcating Willow's body. It drove straight up from her feet, through her body, out her head, and directly into the ceiling.

Willow screamed in pain and horror, her designs of revenge instantly forgotten as the strange power sliced into her and through the roof of the church. The last thing she saw was huge chunks of masonry and heavy tile falling straight on top of her.

She was instantly crushed to death as the ceiling above her collapsed, her screams cut off for ever. Her body buried underneath the rubble.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? I know I am going to hear some cried of foul, but give me and the story a chance. Hit the shiny review button please and let me know.

St. James of the Marches is a real saint, b. 1391, d. 1476. He was buried in Naples in St. Maria la Nuova, where his remains can be seen, and is one of the patron saints of Naples. I am not sure exactly what made him saint material, but it was mentioned that he figured in the debate about the Precious Blood. I figured that I had been blasphemous enough and changed the location of where he was buried and the church is a creation of my imagination. The information about the saint came from the Catholic Encyclopedia on-line.

Also, in case someone asks, killing someone in a church (at least a Catholic one) does defile the space. When there was a deadly shooting at Conception Abbey (Conception, Missouri) the monks there had to re-consecrate the church area where it occurred. I don't know if that is a Church-wide practice, but I think killing someone in any house of worship is pretty bad and in direct contrast to what most major religions teach and there needs to be some sort of cleansing and re-sanctifying.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language

* * *

"Those things took the amulet and escaped. After dealing with the authorities, answering their questions, we called Giles and let him know what had happened," Dawn said, her vitality drained from her. Reliving and retelling the story of Buffy's and Willow's deaths had emptied her completely.

"What about the light that killed Willow?" Alex forced himself to ask. The thought that his childhood friend had died in such a way, being crushed to death, was horrifying.

"We think because she went Dark on top of the resting spot of a saint, someone that was a part of the Light, the magic rebounded upon itself. I think it was the ultimate example of the Three-fold Law," Tara said sadly, clearly missing her friend and lover. "It was something that she had never really grasped, the idea of consequences of abusing magic."

"I don't mean to sound rude here," Emily started after a moment of respectful silence, her voice slightly hesitant. She really did not want what she was about to say to be taken wrong, but the question had to be asked. "Why are you here in San Francisco? Why aren't you looking for the amulet back in Europe?"

Dawn took this one. "After we had Buffy cremated since I didn't want anyone to bring her back or do something worse to her her, and after we had Willow buried per Jewish custom, Giles and a few others did their head bashing thing and came up with a few leads. One of the leads said that the amulet was then sent to some group in San Francisco. He didn't say much after that since Natalie, one of the new Slayers, broke his neck when tried to escape."

Tara then picked up the story. "We had promised your prince that we would do what we could to keep Slayers and the Council out of his city. Giles wanted to send an army of Slayers here to find it. So we convinced him, with a touch of magic," at that Tara looked a bit guilty, "that only we would come here and get Taylor's help, if we could find her. She's still around isn't she? She doesn't keep in regular contact with the Watcher's Council."

Alex nodded. "Taylor's still in the city. She's a sophomore at USF. She's also Herd and helps us out keeping the lid on the demon population. Luna is worried that the demons could somehow expose the Masquerade, so he has an arrangement with Taylor. She avoids killing Kindred and focuses on Primordial vampires and other nastiness. In return, well, I don't know exactly, but she and Luna are pretty good friends. I figure what ever their deal is, if I need to know, Luna will tell me. Otherwise, it's none of my business."

"I should warn you that Giles said that if we don't find the amulet within a week, he'll send his army of Slayers to find it."

"Why in a week?" Alex asked, his dark eyes searching the women's faces.

"According to my research, for the amulet to reach its full power, it has to be activated on the night of Bhadrapad Pornima," Dawn said.

"There's a night of bad porn?" Alex asked, raising his eyebrows just a tad as he flashed a playful smile at her.

"No," Dawn said, exasperated with him. "You are such a guy. Bhadrapad Pornima is the Hindu name for September's full moon."

"Oh, damn. And here I thought I would get to celebrate the career of Jenna Jamison and Tracy Lords," Alex joked, showing a glimpse of his old personae: Xander the jokester in spite of impending doom.

"You're a pervert," Emily said and punched him in the arm.

"It's one of my more charming qualities," he agreed, rubbing his arm. Emily was Kindred after all and could hit quite hard. "You should be glad I named women and not someone like John Holmes." This earned him another slug in the arm.

Sobering suddenly, Alex then asked, "If it has to be activated by the pale moon's light, how did those things drain Buffy?"

Dawn looked troubled. "I don't think it was the amulet. I think it was them, the demon things we saw."

Something clicked in his brain. He didn't want to say too much in case he was wrong. "I need to see these things."

"How," Tara asked, confused.

"You want to go back in time or something?" Dawn asked, also puzzled. "Can you do that?"

Alex laughed, though without humor. "No, this," he said. Moving with the quickness of the Kindred, he was by Dawn side in a flash, too quick for the human eye to follow. He grabbed her head with both of his hands, closed his eyes, and mentally 'pushed.'

_XanderXanderXander_

He hadn't done something like this in a long time. The last time he forced his way into someone's mind had been a couple of years ago. His victim had been a Malkavian, an antitribu, which had been paid to try and kill Luna. The Malkavian failed in his attempt. In order to find the person or persons behind the assassination attempt, he delved into the mind of the Malkavian. Unfortunately, it hadn't gone too well and had to leave quickly least he gain an understanding of discipline of Dementation and go insane himself. Also, he wasn't able to learn anything about the assassination.

This time though Alex did not have to fear about losing his mind. He pushed though into the former Key's mind. Sifting through the various memories of school, holidays, some past boyfriends, he eventually found the specific memory he had been looking for: the identity of the demons that had killed Buffy.

Gasping out-loud, he reared back in shock and left Dawn's mind quickly. He didn't need to see anymore. This was the last thing he expected to find. He had been expecting some sort of demon, but not this.

"Samedi," was his pronouncement, rubbing his forehead like he had a massive headache.

"What's Samedi?" Dawn and Tara asked, while Emily had gone completely still.

"Samedi are Kindred like Emily and me, but of a different clan. They're a smaller clan, independent of the Camarilla and the Sabbat. They will sometimes serve as assassins for either side. They look like zombies, decaying corpses really. Samedi have the power of invisibility, fortitude, thanatosis, and many of them are necromancers. This is not good," Alex explained, looking a bit paler than normal.

"D-do you have these powers too?" Tara asked her voice shaky. "And what's thanatosis?"

Alex looked over at Emily who nodded. "We are Gangrel, a completely different clan from the Samedi. Our disciplines are animalism, fortitude, and protean, which is shape-shifting. Thanatosis is the ability to control death and decay. They used that to help kill Buffy."

"But those things were evil. And, well, you're not Xander," Dawn said, looking younger than her eighteen years.

Alex sighed. "Dawnie, I try to stay away from evil the best I can, but I'm no saint. I've screwed up plenty of times and done things that I probably shouldn't have. Samedi as a race are not evil. Whether or not anyone is good or bad, Kindred or not, is based on the choices they make and the intent behind the choices."

"But they killed Buffy. Doesn't that qualify them as being, oh, I don't know, evil? You didn't kill her when she tried to kill you. Where's the difference?" Dawn persisted.

He groaned. Alex knew that this wouldn't be easy. "I did try to kill her Dawn. When you guys were here in the city last time and Buffy went after me, I was going to kill her. The only thing that kept me from draining her dry was Luna intervening before I could kill her."

"Oh my God," Dawn gasped while Tara looked a tad sick.

"I was pissed," Alex said, remembering the unfortunate incident. "We were at a party with other members of the Gangrel clan and Buffy had just shot me with an arrow, so I chased her down and we had it out in the middle of a clearing. I managed to get the upper hand and I let the Beast, my instincts, take over. I ended up drinking her blood and would have continued it Luna hadn't stopped me. By this point I was in the middle of Frenzy and it took several people to hold me down, then Cash had to kick me unconscious."

The women knew that a fight had happened between Buffy and Xander when they had thought he has himself turned in to a vampire like the ones from back home, but they did not know all of the details.

"Alex, did you have a point here or were you just determined to freak everyone out?" Emily asked, watching the humans' complexion change from blotchy red to gray.

"I believe I lost my point somewhere – my bad. I think what I was getting at is that everyone is capable of doing good and bad, but that doesn't necessarily make them pure evil or pure good. The Samedi work as assassins, killing someone to them is just a job. Don't waste your hate on the paid help."

"Are you saying that a member of the Masquerade is behind this? Do you realize what you are saying?" Emily asked, shocked.

Alex nodded slowly, looking horrified at the thought that someone, probably local, knowing his luck was involved in hiring the Samedi to find something that could threaten the Masquerade and upset the balance of power within the Camarilla.

"What are you talking about? Quit with the Kindred Esperanza please," Dawn demanded, hating the way Alex and Emily were having a conversation without them.

"Someone here in the city hired the assassins and could potentially use this amulet to bring themselves into power, not just here in the city, but over all the Kindred, all over the world."

"Who would do that?" Tara asked. "Isn't Luna still in charge around here?"

"Yes," Emily answered. "However, there have been plenty of attempts on his life and there are many that would love to take his place as Prince. The goddamn Brujah would just love it if they could take over," she added, a tone of disgust in her voice.

Alex nodded. "Also, the ability to rob others of their more supernatural abilities, if that is what that amulet can really do, puts all sorts of others in danger. The gypsies, the Garou, the witches, and even Alexia could be in danger."

"What do you mean Alexia?" Tara was puzzled.

He looked a bit chagrined. "Alexia inherited a few magical talents from Anya and me. Since she's so young, we had to bind her powers, least she hurt herself or someone else. Once she had been away from the Hellmouth long enough, she started doing some odd things. It was far from a pleasant shock when she managed to set the curtains on fire one evening. When she's old enough and mature enough, not to mention having some control, I'll un-bind her powers."

"Okay, that's nice but can you help us find them and make them pay for what they did?" Dawn asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Alex looked at her squarely in the eyes, determined that he would be honest with her and Tara. "I don't know if I can avenge their deaths Dawn. It is against the law for us to kill other Kindred members without it being sanctioned by the Prince."

Dawn and Tara looked as if they had had the rug pulled out from underneath them. They had clearly expected Xander to help them out unequivocally. Instead he said no to their request.

Seeing their downcast looks, he continued. "However, I could help you find the amulet and if somehow someone gets in my way," he said shrugging. "I don't think Luna or Cash will have a problem with this. The amulet is a danger to the Masquerade and the balance of power in the city. This could cause a war if the blasted thing fell into the wrong hands." As he was saying this, he was picturing a few greedy bastards that would love to have the ability to drain others of their more supernatural abilities.

He then got up and grabbed the phone off the coffee table. Quickly he punched in a series of numbers, spoke briefly into the handset, and abruptly hung up.

"I'm heading over to Luna's to fill him in on what's going on before we go any further," he said as he took his jacket out of the closet.

"What about us?" Dawn asked.

"It's late and you guys are exhausted. Luna will probably want to see the both of you, but I am sure it can wait until tomorrow," he said as he grabbed his keys off the counter in the kitchen.

With a quick kiss for Emily, and a gentle hug for both of the former Sunnydale residents, he was out the door and gone.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not. Hit the shiny review button and let me know what you think.

I will "see" you all sometime next week since I am taking the weekend off to work on my house, catch up on some writing for this story, soccer (Lori if you are reading this - FC Dallas still sucks - hugs!), and lots of Stargate watching/mourning. Take care everyone and have a safe weekend!


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A/N: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language

* * *

Alex rode his bike over to Luna's home. He enjoyed the freedom and exhilaration that came with the open-ness of a motorcycle. He didn't get to ride as much as he used to since Alexia came into his life, not that he was complaining. It was just an activity that he didn't get to do as often as he used to. He did promise Alexia that once she got a little bigger he'd take her out on the bike. Emily, upon hearing this, almost ripped him in half, going into her protective "are you out of your fucking mind, she's a baby" speech, leaving him partially fearing for his life.

Emily constantly surprised him. She had accepted the child, welcoming her into her home with out the slightest hesitation and instantly filled the roll of mother. Emily helped take care of the girl, making sure she had eaten, taken a bath, had treats for classroom parties, and all sorts of stuff she had never expected to take part in when she had first been embraced all those years ago.

Now he could only hope and pray that she would be just as understanding and patient with this new development. Once again his past was making itself present and he hoped it wouldn't destroy everything that they had built for their family.

For now, he just enjoyed the open road. Deep down, he feared that such moments would be scarce in the next week or so.

_XanderXanderXander_

He made it past the guards at the gate and was soon pulling up just outside the heavy front doors of the mansion. As soon as he stepped on to the porch, the doors were opened and out stepped Cash, his sire.

"Cash," Alex nodded in a way of greeting, always careful and respectful around the Gangrel Primogen.

"Alex, it's funny that you called. What's going on?" Cash said, quickly getting to the point, avoiding all of the bullshit that they could have stepped in.

Alex laughed shortly without any real humor. "I got myself a problem that Luna needs to know about."

Cash snorted. "Shit. You rarely have problems," he stated, using air quotes as he spoke, "but when you do, they're pretty fucking bad. I bet it's related to what Daedelus has been ranting on about for the last two hours."

Together they walked through the house towards Luna's study, looking slightly out of place among the comforts and opulence of the mansion. Both of them looked kind of wild and dangerous. They both looked as if they would be more comfortable at a biker's bar or at a bonfire party, complete with drinking and fighting, than walking down a hall carpeted with a hand-woven runner that softened their footfalls.

"Alexia is fine, right?" Cash asked suddenly.

"If Alexia was in trouble, I wouldn't be here," Alex replied. "By the way, she was wondering earlier today when her Uncle Cash was going to come by and if Emily finds out you've been teaching the kid knife fighting, you're dealing with her because I'd rather take my chances in garou country than face Emily."

Cash laughed. "The kid needs to learn to defend herself. Schools are rough these days."

"Somehow I don't think my daughter is going to have to worry about a school bully trying to shiv her over a box of crayons. I send her to a good school after all," Alex joked then suddenly sobered. "No, this problem comes in the form of my Hellmouth-y past."

"Fuck me sideways," was all Cash could say.

_XanderXanderXander_

They entered the study to find Lillie Langtree and Daedelus seated in leather chairs in front of Luna's expansive desk. Lillie sat there, her legs crossed, showing enough leg to be seductive yet not whore-ish, looking every bit the Primogen of the Toreadors that she was. Daedelus was also seated, but not even close to being anywhere near elegant.

The Primogen of the Nosferatu was sitting in the chair, hunched over, holding his bald head, rocking back and forth, muttering to himself.

Julian Luna, Prince of the city and a member of the Ventrue clan, looked up as Alex and Cash walked in.

"Luna," Alex said.

Luna looked up and sighed. "Your call was unexpected but most welcome Harris. I'm glad you're here," with that, he gestured towards the Nosferatu. "He keeps saying over and over something about the usurping of power and the Amulet of Rahu. You tend to know what he's talking about more than most of us. Do you have any idea as to what he's going on about?"

Ales stood before Luna's desk, feet about shoulder width apart, his hands loosely folded across his chest. A thousand smart-ass comments filtered though his brain in a split second, but common sense won out in the end. He knew that Luna, when provoked, was vicious and he really didn't want to leave Alexia without a father.

"Maybe," he said. "I got a call from Dawn Summers earlier this week. Her sister, Buffy – the Slayer you met a few years ago, along with Willow Rosenberg, had been killed. They were searching for an amulet in Naples at a church. They ran into what they thought was some type of demon. It looked like a zombie, but had the teeth of a vampire," with that he mentally cringed. He, along with many among the Kindred, did not like the term vampire when referring to Kindred.

Lillie was looking at him with long practiced skepticism. She was not one to rush to snap decisions; she planned everything, including her responses and what she chose to believe. "What does Daedelus have to do with some human so far away?" she asked, her voice slightly distasteful when she said 'human.'

Alex took a deep breath, reminded himself that it would not be okay if he killed the Toreador. "The amulet they were searching for supposedly can give the possessor the ability to drain a supernatural being of their energy and power and take it for themselves."

"Continue," Luna advised, sitting back in his chair, his hand resting lightly on the armrests.

"It was found out that the amulet had been sent here to San Francisco. Dawn, along with Tara Maclay, managed to convince the head Watcher to not send an army of Slayers to the city. Instead, they manipulated things so they would be sent instead and with Taylor's help, they would find the amulet. However, they were only able to get themselves a window of about a week, and then Giles, the Watcher, would be sending in the troops. They bought us some time and helped preserve the Masquerade," he added, hoping that would help keep them in Luna's good graces. "Right now they are back at my home, hopefully getting some sleep. They've been through hell and look it to."

Lillie looked like she had been hit by the semi-truck of information overload. She had heard of the Slayers, through legend and through what Julian had told her about what had taken place between the young Gangrel and some people from his past. "You mean to tell me that a horde of vampire killers might be coming to our city?'

Alex looked a bit sick. "Yeah, and it gets worse," he announced.

"How could it get worse?" Lillie snapped.

"The zombies that killed Buffy and Willow weren't zombies at all. I did my Mr. Spock-Vulcan- mind-meld thing on Dawn to see what exactly these monsters were. They were Samedi."

"Cain no," Lillie breathed. ""Somebody, either from the Camarilla or the Sabbat, hired them."

_Way to state the obvious Lillie_, Cash thought to himself, smirking just a bit.

"Dawn and Tara asked me to help them find Buffy's and Willow's killers. I told them no, but I would help them find the amulet and if something or someone were to get in my way," he trailed off, shrugging and smirking. Smirking was apparently a Gangrel thing to do.

"Fine," Luna said. "Whatever resources you need use them, but this must be kept quiet. One, I don't want to alert who ever is behind this power grab to know that we are aware of their presence. Two, I don't want to see this boil into a civil war within the Kindred. The balance of power and peace in this city is hard enough to maintain. I can't imagine what it would be like if this spread."

Daedelus snapped out of his semi-catatonic state and grabbed Alex by the wrist. "Those behind this are close at hand. Be wary for they might try to hurt you where you are the most vulnerable." After that, he went back to holding his head, clearly disturbed by the news and whatever psychic vibes he was picking up.

"Why wasn't I invited to this meeting?" a loud voice growled as the doors burst open.

Alex and Cash turned around to see who they were hoping it wasn't, while Lillie and Daedelus turned their heads, and Luna merely looked up.

"Cameron, so nice of you to drop by," Luna growled. He despised the Brujah Primogen with a passion, but the rules made him pretend to be civilized to the brute.

"I had called earlier and dear Sasha had told me that you were meeting with Lillie and Daedelus, talking about something very hush-hush. It made me wonder what was going on, wonder if you were breaking the rules my Prince," Cameron said, his voice slick and oily like a used car salesman.

"This isn't a meeting between me and the clan Primogens. As you can see clearly Sonny isn't here. Also, Harris is here on matters that do not concern you. Lillie and Daedelus just happened to be here. Now, do you want to explain why you so rudely interrupted me in _my_ home?"

"Harris, the misfit mutt among misfits," Cameron sneered. "Trying to impress the Prince with your Harry Potter impression?"

Alex growled.

Cameron leered, pleased that he had gotten a rise out of the Gangrel. "How's that little girl of yours? Have you grown tired of playing house and tea parties yet?"

Alex would have lunged at the Brujah if Cash hadn't anticipated this and grabbed him in an iron grip.

"Leave it alone! Don't," Cash hissed in his ear. "Julian, we'll call you. Lillie, Daedelus," he nodded at the other two Primogens. "Fuck you Cameron," he added under his breath.

Moving swiftly, Cash shoved Alex in front of him, forcing him out of the study.

"That mother-fucker," Alex snarled, shaking off Cash's hands once they were out of the study and the door had closed. "I swear to all, if he touches her, I'll fucking kill him."

Cash wanted to tell him to calm down and that nothing would happen to Alexia. However, he knew that was a false promise. Cameron could easily break Julian's promise of protection for Alexia. Sasha had been supposedly under Julian's protection and look where it had gotten her – Embraced as a fucking Brujah. He knew though if anyone were to touch Alex's daughter, no one and nothing would stop the Gangrel from going on a rampage.

"We'll hook up sometime tomorrow, okay? The girls and I will start looking for this damn thing," Alex said, once he was more in control of himself. "I'll call Taylor and see when she's available for some hunting."

They walked back through the house to the front where Alex had left his bike.

Cash nodded in agreement, mentally sighing. This, he just knew, was going to be a messy week for everyone involved.

* * *

A/N: What do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language

* * *

By the time Alex made it back home it was after midnight. He came into the house as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb anyone. Emily did wake up and asked him how things had gone with Luna. He briefly told her about Daedelus and what Luna's response had been.

Emily groaned and flopped back down on her makeshift bed. Things didn't look good, she decided.

He threw his jacket onto a near-by chair and pulled off his boots. Changing quickly into a pair of shorts Emily had laid out for him, least their guests and daughter gets an eye-full of his naked ass, he collapsed onto the couch and pulled a blanket up around his body.

Soon he was asleep.

_XanderXanderXander_

Nobody was around that morning. There were no people on the streets, nor were there any students milling about, delaying the start of their school day for as long as possible. The sand-colored building with the cheerful tiled roof looked clean and fresh; no evidence of a massive explosion and fire to be seen.

Rolling along the sidewalk on his old skateboard, he glanced up to the top of the staircase and saw them. Unfortunately, he did not see the railing until it rudely introduced itself to his more intimate region. Groaning, he rolled his eyes and prayed that it hadn't done any permanent damage to his two best friends.

"Smooth one Xander," a voice called out, laughing at his predicament.

"Thanks Buffy for the warning," he grunted. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Can't some old friends drop in to say hi?" Willow asked amusement evident in her voice.

Letting the pain recede to the back of his mind, he looked at the women before him. They looked older than he remembered them being, but they still looked young and in the prime of their lives – lives that had been cut drastically short.

Willow was wearing a white peasant blouse and a long skirt, no longer the geek she had been in high school. Buffy was wearing a short black skirt, calf-length boots, and a tiny tank top – the kind of outfit that he had always enjoyed on her.

"I understand that this is your mind here Xander, but do you really have to dress me in totally revealing clothes?" Buffy asked, her hands on her hips, mock glaring at him

"So we really aren't back in Sunnydale at the high school?" he asked, looking around, remembering spending several free periods hanging out in the quad area with Willow and Jesse. He also remembered that this was the place he had first seen Buffy.

"No," Willow said. "We had to do some begging to the Guy in charge to let us speak to you and the only time we could was when you were asleep. This," she gestured to the scene around her, "is your construct. We're just along for the ride here. How are you doing?"

"How am I? How are you two doing? Dawn told me what had happened," Alex asked. He walked up the stairs and joined them in the open and sat down on a stone bench.

"We're fine," Buffy smiled. "It was a shock at first, but we're more than okay. It's you that we're worried about. We left behind quite a mess and now you have to deal with it." Buffy looked for a split second. "But seriously, how are you doing? Still with the Kindred huh?"

Alex snorted. "It's not like I can quit the club. It has a lifetime membership clause," he joked. "You guys obviously know about it," he observed.

"Yeah, when we died, the memories that you took from us rejoined our spirits. Plus, when you get where we are, you gain a greater understanding of things. We know you have a soul Xander and you still are, despite everything, a good person. Becoming Kindred didn't change that about you," Buffy said.

Alex looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry about taking your memories like that."

Willow shrugged and sat down across from him. "It was for the best. We would have destroyed everything that your people had worked to protect."

Buffy also sat down, next to Willow, directly across from her old friend. "I miss you Xan. Things just weren't the same without you. I acted like a bitch and drove you away. But maybe it was for the best. You're an excellent father and a great pseudo-husband for Emily, despite having pointy teeth and a weird diet."

"You've been watching?" Alex asked, feeling a bit awkward. There were things that he had done that he hadn't been proud of and didn't want others, especially them, to know about.

"We've only been dead a week Xander," Willow said. "But we did have some things revealed to us. We know about what you did to that guy. I can't say that he deserved to die the way he did, but he only would have kept on killing. He'd been doing that for a long time and would have killed another child if you hadn't stopped him."

"I saw what he had done in his mind when I fed from him. His most recent victim looked just like Alexia and I just lost it," he confessed.

Buffy smiled sadly. "We understand. Don't worry too much about him. He's been taken care of and you helped prevent more heartbreak for another family."

Willow sighed and looked up at the sun. She couldn't judge or blame him. While what he had done had been brutal and violent, it was understandable to a certain degree. Also, she was far from perfect and was in no position to pass sentence onto him.

"I take it this isn't just a social call," Alex finally sighed.

"No," was Buffy's response. "We were allowed to come here to warn you. You are going up against something like you've never faced. There are enemies near you that would love to see you, your clan, and the Prince fail. They want power and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it."

"Do you know who's behind this? This could turn into a world-wide war between the clans. Humans would easily get caught up in this and die by the thousands. Anyone left would be turned into cattle for us," Alex said, his voice cold, his disgust palpable.

"We can't tell you that," Willow spoke up, her smile sad. "We're not allowed to say. I'm sorry."

"What are you allowed to say?" he growled. "Hell, why even bother telling me anything?"

"We came to warn you that what is coming is going to test you like nothing ever has. It will take all of your strength and abilities to stop this. It could also cost you your soul in the process, if not your life," Willow said, looking beyond sorrowful. Her cinnamon colored eyes were wet with tears. "You need to be strong."

Alex looked troubled. Their words did not bode well. "Anything else?" he asked.

Buffy sighed. "There's not much more we can tell you. Just be careful, please. You are in for a really dangerous time."

"I laugh in the face of danger," he joked.

"You used to say I laugh in the face of danger and then I run away," Buffy observed. "You're different now."

Alex smiled slightly. "It's been six years since I left Sunnydale. Between now and then, I became Kindred. I'm no longer human Buffy."

"Is it worth it Xander? Do you like being a vampire?" Willow looked at him, sadness clearly pasted across her face.

Alex leaned forward and reached out to take her hand. "Will, the word vampire is a human creation to give name to what people fear. People fear us because we are different from others. I live on blood, I won't deny that, but you know I am not like the ones from Sunnydale. We are just a different species with a more specialized diet. We are both good and bad, the same as any human out there."

Buffy, sitting next to Willow, reached over and placed her hand over his and Willow's. "We know, but was it worth it? Wasn't it painful? I mean, you got drained, and then you drank someone's blood. I remember the spell that Willow did. What happened to you looked so horrible."

"I don't remember too much about it, but I know that I chose to do it of my own free will. I don't regret it. I love being what I am. I finally feel like I belong somewhere. I love Emily and I couldn't be with her if I were still human. I have some really good friends that I wouldn't have otherwise. Best of all, other than my daughter, I got away from the Hellmouth. It was killing me day, by day. Part of it was you guys, but another part of me knew deep down that if I had stayed, the Hellmouth would have destroyed me."

"Still, did you have to go and do something so extreme?" Willow asked.

"Willow, if you could feel what I feel, you would understand," he said. "Being Kindred is so much better than being human. Also, it gives me a chance to continue fighting against the bad guys who are increasingly bigger and meaner. I wouldn't be able to do that as normal, everyday Zeppo Xander."

"You were never a Zeppo Xander. You were the heart of the Scoobies and we took advantage of that. It was never the same without you," Buffy admitted. "There were so many times when I thought how different things might have gone if you were there. You always came through when we couldn't see our way out of a problem. I am sorry that you felt as if you were unimportant. I messed that up."

"I fucked up plenty of times," Alex admitted. "Miss French, the Inca mummy girl, that Valentine's Day from hell."

"Don't say that Xander. You didn't mess up per say. The Hellmouth twists everything, especially when there are good intentions or thoughtlessness is involved," Willow said.

"But it's the truth," Alex insisted. "There were plenty of times I leapt before I even thought about looking."

Buffy smiled. "You may be right about that, but in the end you always came through for us and your heart was always in the right place. You were and still are a good person Xander. Don't ever forget that. Besides, how many times have we all leapt into something without thinking about anything, consequences included?"

Alex sighed. "Thank you. It means something to hear that from you."

Willow looked off in the distance for a couple of seconds and then frowned. "We have to get going Xan. Our time here is being cut short."

"Can't you tell the guy in charge you need a few more minutes?" he asked.

Buffy gave a half-laugh. "The Man isn't the kind of person you question. When he tells you to jump, you only ask how high."

"Tough management," Alex quipped.

"Yes, but He's the boss," Buffy replied. "However, there's one thing I want to do before this ends." With that, she gently grabbed his head and pulled him to her, bringing their lips together in a passionate (on her part) kiss.

Once she broke off the kiss, Alex pulled immediately back. "What hell was that for?" he yelped, surprised and a bit shocked that Buffy would do such a thing.

Buffy grinned. "Now I understand what the others were talking about. It's no wonder Will why you had that little fling with him back in high school."

"What others?" Alex asked, puzzled.

"Cordy and Anya for starters," Willow said, with a wicked grin across her face.

"Oh Lord," Alex muttered, blushing a bit. "Are they okay?

"They're fine. Don't worry about them, though Anya said that you had better take care of her little girl or she'll come down there and haunt you for the rest of you life," Willow said.

"Well, we have to be going. Lots to do and all of eternity to do it in," Buffy announced and stood up. She reached down and pulled Willow to her feet.

Alex looked up at them with partial serenity on his face, happy to know that both women were essentially okay and that they didn't need him to worry about their place in the after-life. "Is there any chance that I will run into you two again?"

"There are infinite possibilities out there Xander for everything," Willow said, deliberately vague.

"We will be watching from time to time though," Buffy smirked. "Try to be good in the mean time and if you don't mind, tell Dawn and Tara thank you and that we both love and miss them."

"How about a group hug for your favorite Xander?" Alex asked and both women tackled him, creating a Buffy, Xander, Willow sandwich. "I love you guys."

As they hugged, Alex felt the world that existed only in his mind start to fade. Soon, it was only him, Buffy and Willow long gone.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know what you think? 


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language

* * *

The next morning, earlier than he would have preferred, Alex busied him self getting Alexia ready for school. While Emily took care of making sure that their daughter was dressed for school, Alex got her lunch box packed and that she had a hot breakfast ready for her by the time she came down the stairs.

At seven-thirty on the button, Alexia ran down the stairs, her long brown hair pulled back into a pony tail swinging wildly as she dashed into the kitchen and plopped down at the kitchen table. She had on her school uniform, a white polo and a blue plaid jumper. She looked unbelievably cute.

Alex set down a bowl of oatmeal in front of her, with milk, butter, and a tiny bit of brown sugar in it, along with a glass of milk to complete the meal.

"Oatmeal? Daddy! I wanted Coco Puffs!" Alexia looked down at the food, then up at her father, a frown marring her pretty face.

"Lexi, you know the rule. You can only have sugar cereals on the weekend. You don't need that junk in your system all the time," Alex looked down at his daughter, feeling like a complete hypocrite.

He remembered a time when he lived off a steady diet of Coco Puffs, Apple Jacks, or Sugar Smacks for breakfast, enjoying every minute of loading his system full of processed sugars, artificial dyes, and crap. Now here he was, as an adult, denying his daughter the food he had loved as a kid, because the stuff was bad for her.

"That's crap," she sulked.

Alex looked at his daughter sharply. "I know I did not just hear you say _crap_ young lady."

Defiant brown eyes looked back at him, equally as sharp. "You say crap, so why can't I say crap? Kaci at school says crap all the time."

"I say it because I'm an adult and you are only six years old. Six year olds in this house don't get to use that word. I don't care what Kaci from school says, you watch your language," Alex said sternly, doing his best to keep from laughing. It really was amusing hearing the word crap come from someone so little and cute. "Also, if your mom hears you saying that, she'll take it out on me, so watch your language young lady."

Alexia pouted a bit more, but picked up her spoon and attacked her oatmeal anyway.

As she was sitting there, Tara and Dawn both came down the stairs.

"Who are you?" Alexia asked around a mouth full of oatmeal.

"Lexi, don't speak with your mouth full," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

"Good morning ladies. I have some oatmeal on the stove here and there are Cheerios and Rice Chex in the pantry over there. Also, because you are adults," he gave his daughter a meaningful look, "the Coco Puffs are behind the healthier cereals." Alexia glared at this, but didn't pursue the matter.

Alexia swallowed the mouthful of food and repeated herself. "Who are you?"

"I'm Dawn and this is Tara. We're old friends of you father. Also, we knew you when you were a little baby," Dawn said, looking at the girl, smiling brightly at her.

"You knew me when I was little? What was I like?"

Dawn laughed at this, the girl's sweetness was hard to resist. "You were a beautiful baby."

"Cool," Alexia said and turned back to her breakfast, least it grow cold.

Dawn wandered over to one of the windows and twitched open one of the heavy drapes, letting a ray of sunshine in.

The ray was small, but it hit Alex, causing him to snarl and jump instinctively off to the side to avoid the painful beam. His eyes turned a fiery yellow, while sharp teeth and claws made themselves known.

"Close the curtains Goddamnit!" Alex barked, feeling a bit crispy and sunburned all of the sudden.

Dawn immediately shut the curtains, looking panicked. "I don't get it. What happened?"

"Mom and Daddy have a rule. You can't open the curtains in the morning without permission," Alexia piped up, her hands wrapped around her glass of milk.

"Why not? I don't get it. We've seen you out in the sun before, so why did the ray burn you just now?" Dawn asked.

"Kindred have to feed before they can be out in the sun. Blood will give us strength to with stand the sun's rays," Alex ground out.

"Feed? Blood?" Dawn asked her voice hesitant.

Alex held up a large coffee cup and tipped it slightly on its side. "I drink blood Dawn. You know this."

"Where do you get the blood from and does Alexia know?" she looked fearfully over at Alexia, looking at her neck for tell-tale puncture wounds

Alex rolled his eyes. "We get the blood from a false research company owned by a member of the Kindred. The company gets people to donate the blood for supposedly research. Also, we go out and hunt every so often. I do _not_ use my daughter for feeding and yes, she knows the basics. Alexia knows that Emily and I are not exactly like her. We told her earlier this year and she knows that she can't talk about it outside of the house."

"But that's blood you're drinking!" Dawn said, looking aghast at the idea that her old friend had blood in a coffee cup, especially a cup emblazoned with the logo of 'Keeper of the Trees – Muir Woods.'

"Dawn, I am Kindred. I'm no longer the human Xander you knew from Sunnydale. I won't apologize for what I am. I am sorry that you are having a problem with this, but that is the way things are. You need to accept it or leave," Alex didn't mean to be so hard about it, but he wanted to make sure Dawn knew exactly what the score was. He loved her dearly, but he didn't want to have to deal with someone that would freak out at every little turn and surprise that came her way.

Dawn looked a bit shaken, but firmly held on to her resolve. "It's just different and I know you aren't really like the vampires from Sunnydale, but the blood, the sun, not to mention the pointy teeth are different."

Alex sighed. "Let me finish making Lexi's lunch. Once I get the munchkin off to school, we'll go and get started trying to fix this mess."

He put the finishing touches on to Alexia's lunch, drained his coffee cup dry, and then ran upstairs to throw on a pair of track pants and a t-shirt, along with a pair of shoes so he could seem semi-presentable when he dropped Alexia off at St. Monica's Academy. Emily had already left for her job at the Conservatory, leaving him to get their child ready and on time for school.

"I'll be back in a little while," he called out as he hustled the little girl out the door.

The others could hear the sound of an engine roaring to life and eventually faded into the distance.

Tara and Dawn sighed and stared at each other. It was going to take some getting use to, Xander's different habits and whatnot.

Tara went to the refrigerator for some milk and was distracted by the several wine bottles that were lined up on the inside of the door. Curious, she pulled one out, uncorked it and took a quick sniff. Letting out a half-strangled squeal, she quickly replaced the cork and put it back in its place in the door.

"What?" Dawn asked, coming over to Tara who had paled slightly.

"It's blood. They have bottles of blood in the refrigerator next to the ketchup and salad dressing," she said quietly and quickly found a chair to sit in. "Like he said, he's Kindred now, not human, so we have to accept it, but goddess!"

"He has a soul and I accept that, but the blood, and the teeth for God's sake, is a bit much! Do you think we made the right choice coming to Xander with this?" Dawn asked her blue eyes worried.

Tara shrugged. "What else could we have done? We don't know the city and what if we had run across one of the meaner members of Xander's secret society? We wouldn't stand a chance against them. Look what they did to Buffy and she was a Slayer." Tara's tone of voice turned soft and sad, realizing how alone they really were and how much she had come to depend on the others being there, taking charge of the situation. Now here she was, in a strange city, staying with people that were – no matter what they called themselves – vampires, and having no real clue as to what was to be their next move.

Dawn reached out and took Tara's hand. "We'll make it through this Tara. Then afterwards we go on vacation and drink ourselves blind." She offered a half smile to her friend.

"That sounds nice," Tara said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. In fact, if she were honest with herself, she couldn't see herself and her life beyond the present. Vacations and future plans seemed to be nothing more than pipe dreams. "In the mean time, we had better get cleaned up. I am sure that this is going to be a busy day."

Both women quickly got ready, each of them taking a bathroom. By the time Alex had returned to the house, they were ready to go.

Alex told them that he would be all set in about fifteen minutes and true to his word, in fifteen minutes he came back down the stairs, pulling on his shirt, a plain black t-shirt, allowing the women to catch a glimpse of the tattoo on his upper arm and a couple of scars that ran across his stomach which they had never seen before.

"What?" he asked as he tucked his shirt into his jeans.

"What's up with the tat and where did those scars come from?" Dawn asked, doing her best to not drool.

"The wolf is a symbol of my clan and I got the scars is something I would rather not talk about right not. I didn't enjoy getting them to say the least," he shrugged, not wanting to talk about the time he got nearly eviscerated by succubae. It has seriously sucked and was full of humiliation and embarrassment. It was worse than his one night stint at a strip club in the summer after his high school graduation.

"Also, I tried calling Taylor when I was upstairs, but got only her voice mail," he informed Tara and Dawn. "I guess we'll just have to hope she's in her room or hang out until she gets back.'

He finished dressing, shoved his worn and comfortable boots on his feet, and checked to make sure he had picked up his wallet from beside the couch where he had spent the night before.

"You ready?" he asked, putting on his sunglasses, and promptly herded the two humans out the door to his SUV.

They drove over to the main campus of the University of San Francisco and over to the Phelan Residence Hall, which was located in the central part of the campus. While driving, Alex told them a little about Taylor's life and how she was doing in school. "She's a physic's major and she wants to go on to med school."

"How is she able to keep school and her Slaying duties straight?" Dawn asked. "I remember how hard it was, if not impossible, for Buffy."

"Taylor keeps her slaying down to tolerable levels. We don't have that many primordial vampires here in the city, but we do have a demon problem and Taylor will help us out when her schedule allows. She's a lot of fun though and a terrific fighter. I know she's a member of a sorority, has a boyfriend who is also Herd, and wants to work for Doctors Without Borders someday. Seriously, this girl has good life, in spite of the whole Slayer thing," Alex elaborated. "What about you two? What else have you been up to, besides working for the Council? Did you ever finish your degree Tara?"

Tara sighed. "No, I never got around to it. Once Sunnydale got demolished and we went to Rome, things always got in the way and I never got the chance to finish school."

Alex looked troubled. "What about you Dawn? Are you in college or at least thinking about it?"

Dawn also sighed. "No. I finished high school at the American High School in Rome, but things just got in the way and I never did go beyond that. Plus, there was always a project or a translation that needed to be done and there just wasn't enough time."

Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing. These ladies had sacrificed their lives for the Watcher's Council. He didn't know how to appropriately respond, without coming off as being disrespectful towards Buffy, Willow, and the entire Slayer organization. He silently wondered if the same would have happened to him if he had remained in Sunnydale. Would _I have remained the Slayer's errand boy and Mr. Fix-it if I had stayed_, he thought to himself.

"Have you thought about what you are going to do once this mess is over?" he asked instead, looking for an empty parking spot in the visitor's parking lot.

Tara looked over at Dawn who simply shrugged. "No, not really," she said tiredly. "I guess we'll figure it out when we get there." What she didn't say was that she doubted that there would be a future for her.

Alex, realizing that now wasn't the time for such an involved conversation, wisely kept his mouth shut. He found an empty spot, parked the car, got out, and dropped a few coins in the meter. He waited for the women to join him, and together they crossed the street and went over to Phelan Hall.

They noticed an ambulance and several cop cars sitting out in front of the white-washed buildings, but gave them little thought as they entered the front doors. Alex led them down the hall and to the elevators which took them to fifth floor where Taylor's dorm room was located.

When the elevator doors opened, they were met by a scene of controlled chaos. Cops and members of campus security were milling about, talking to several students. Alex also noticed that there was a heavy tang of blood in the air, setting his teeth on edge.

"Alex!" a voice called out, spying him in the crowd. He was then met by a frantic young woman who looked as she had gotten a glimpse of hell.

"Jillian, what's going on? That's Taylor's room. Why are there cops here?" Alex asked, concern written all over his face.

"Who are you?" asked a cop, his voice hard, not letting Jillian answer. The man was large and beefy; his gut hanging over his belt.

"I'm a friend of Taylor's. What's going on?"

The cop looked him over, as if looking for some sign of guilt. "Where were you last night?"

"At home with my partner and kid," he stated. "What's going on with Taylor? Why do I smell blood?"

"What are you doing here?"

Alex, biting the inside of his cheek, struggling to not lose it on the cop, replied cautiously. "Some friends of hers and mine came into town yesterday and we were wondering what her schedule was like. I'll ask again, what is going on? I tried calling earlier but only got her voice mail."

Nodding, as if he had finally come to some conclusion, Officer Moore (according to the name tag) relayed the terrible news. "Sometime early this morning someone came into room 523 and attacked both women who lived there. Gina Vasco was killed and Taylor Haynes was nearly killed. Ms. Haynes was severely beaten and her neck was cut. A neighbor saw the door open and found the women. Your friend is very lucky to be alive."

"Oh God!" Alex breathed, shocked by what the cop had just said.

"Coming out!" a voice called and soon two orderlies and a gurney with Taylor on it came through the door.

Alex barely recognized the form as being Taylor. She was a mess of bruises, gauze, and blood.

With nothing else to do, Alex, Tara, and Dawn went back downstairs to the first floor and out the building. The ambulance had taken off, leaving in its wake a throng of students and the former Sunnydale residents.

Alex stood off to the side, talking on his cell phone. He was talking to Luna, letting him know what had happened to the San Francisco Slayer.

"What now?" Dawn asked, sounding a bit dejected. She had liked Taylor when the girl had come to Rome for some training when they had first opened the Slayer Academy.

"I guess we go on without her," Alex said, snapping the flip phone shut.

"Making the big plans Boy Toy for the gang?" called a familiar voice.

"What are you doing here Faith?" Alex ground out, pissed that his personal well of luck had run dry.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know.

Well, a couple of you had mentioned that having Faith around would be enjoyable, back in NLTZ 2 and in a few reviews and/or PMs. I hope this will make you happy and a big thank you goes out to Bumpkin for her thoughts and suggestions concerning Faith – hugs to you!

I am hoping to update again next week sometime. Hopefully that will happen, but I don't know if I will be able to get any writing done over the weekend. One of my cats went nuts when I took her to vet today and she bit and clawed the crap out of my hands and wrist - they look like bloody hamburger and a repeatedly failed suicide attempt. I have five functioning fingers on two hands, so typing is a bit of a pain right now. Writing is a joke and I can't drive my manual car because it hurts so bad (thank God I have the husband's automatic car). So be patient with me please. I am off to take some fun, happy pain pills, so thanks for reading and reviewing. I may not be able to respond to any reviews (hint, hint) as quickly as I like, so please don't think I don't appreciate it, because I do. Take care and if I don't post before the holiday, have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and mild violence

* * *

"What are you doing here Faith?" 

"Well Boy Toy, G-man called me the other day and expressed some concern that you ladies," she looked at Dawn and Tara, "were getting into something that was a bit over your heads and he wanted you to have someone with a bit more firepower and experience. He also didn't like how you used magic on him and told me to tell you to call him ASAP."

Tara visibly paled at that.

Dawn, however, was pissed. "So Giles doesn't trust us now, well that's just great. Also, we don't need extra fire power. We have Xander."

Faith laughed derisively. "Yeah, the Zeppo is your back up. That's rich."

"Why don't you shut up Faith? Xander is more than capable of handling anything that may come up," Dawn shot back hotly.

"Oh really? What, is he going to protect you guys with his witty repartee? Slay the monsters with a vicious comeback? Maybe if I need some errands run or a good time in the sack, I'll rely on Xander, but for something real, I think I'll pass."

"It just goes to show what you know Faith," Dawn sneered. "Xander's changed since you last saw him. He's Kin."

She would have continued with her diatribe of defending his honor, but Alex cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

He looked angrily at Dawn briefly for almost letting the cat out of the bag, then glared viciously at Faith. Alex was keenly aware of the students and security personnel that were near by. With a jerk of his head, he indicated that the group should come away from the crowd.

Faith, with no other option but to follow, slung her bag over her shoulder and followed.

Once they were under a towering palm tree, giving them some shade from the bright sun, Alex turned to face Faith. "Let me make this perfectly clear Faith. Things are different now. I don't worship at the altar of the almighty slayer – no offense to Buffy' memory Dawn. I don't have to put up with your shit anymore. Watch your mouth or I'll run you out of the city myself, if I don't decide to do something worse."

"Oh really? I'd like to see you try Zeppo," Faith said, responding to the challenge.

Tara placed a gentle hand on Alex's arm. "Don't, please."

Faith snickered. "Yeah Xan, you might want to listen to her. You might get hurt."

Tara turned on Faith, her voice soft, but there was more than an ounce of strength behind it. "I'm not worried about _him_ getting hurt."

"I go by Alex now Faith, you had best remember that. Also, as for what I can do, you'd be surprised what a little time away from a Hellmouth can teach you," Alex hissed. With that, he looked down at his closed fist, muttered a few words and slowly unclenched his hand.

From the empty palm sprang a tongue of flame, about six inches in height, danced and hovered less than an inch from his skin.

Faith couldn't help herself; she jumped back a foot or so in surprise. "How in the hell can you do that? You're powerless."

Alex smiled a nasty smile. "That's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg Faith. Like I've said before, it's amazing what you can learn when there are people around who don't treat you as the group's retarded mascot." He then whispered a single word and closed his fist, snuffing out the flame. "Don't fuck with me Faith," he growled and walked away, heading back to his car.

Dawn and Tara looked between him and Faith for a brief second then turned and followed the Gangrel.

"Are you coming or not?" Alex yelled out, not bothering to turn around.

Dawn looked at him quizzically.

Alex sighed. "Luna's going to kill me as it is, but it would be worse if she were allowed to run loose in the city. Plus, she'd probably end up getting killed and I'd feel responsible for it happening," he explained.

Faith, a bit pissed, rolled her eyes and ran to catch up with the group.

At the car Alex looked at her. "How did you end up here anyway?"

Faith smiled sweetly. "I caught a red-eye from Cleveland and this hottie I met on the plane gave me a lift here."

"Are you staying anywhere?"

"Not yet," she said. "Can you recommend a decent place, something preferably with room service? After all, the Council is picking up the tab for this." She then mumbled under her breath, _unlike Sunnydale_. She was fairly confident that the other's hadn't heard that, but Alex hear it as clear as day, causing him a big twinge of guilt.

"You can stay at my place," he said reluctantly, wondering how he was ever going to explain everything to Emily, without her going ape-shit on him, not to mention how he was going to avoid Faith learning about the Kindred. Deep down though, he knew Faith would find out about him by sunset, so whether or not she stayed with them really didn't matter.

Faith looked at him suspiciously. "I don't need your charity Xander."

"It's Alex and it's not charity. You're welcome to stay with us, if not, it's up to you," he said and climbed into the car, leaving it up her.

_XanderXanderXander_

They drove over to Golden Gate Park. They needed to regroup and figure out their next move.

Alex found a picnic table that was located in a shady area, near the Academy of Science's building. He parked the car on the street and rooted through the glove-box for his San Francisco map book. Pulling it out, he quickly thumbed through it and nodded; satisfied that he had found what he was looking for.

Together, he and the women crossed the street and grabbed the table before someone else did.

Plunking down, Faith scowled at Alex. "What are we doing here? It's a nice park and all, but we are on a deadline here."

Alex glared at her. "I am very aware of the deadline Faith. However, we need to find where the amulet is and this may help."

"Somehow I don't think you're going to find amulet of death in the key of a map," Faith retorted. "This is a waste of time when we could be out there looking instead of spending time at the park."

"This will give us a better idea of where to look Faith. In case you haven't noticed, San Francisco is big city. Plus, we have Oakland right across the Bay, not to mention San Jose and all of the smaller towns in the surrounding area," Alex replied as he unfolded a large, map of the San Francisco-Oakland area.

"Tara, I am going to need you to do some scrying. Are you up to it?" he gently asked the witch.

"I d-don't think I can. Willow was always better at this than me. W-why can't you do it? You can do magic," Tara protested. "What if I mess up?"

Alex looked at her with kind eyes, knowing that the woman has the necessary skills for the task; she only lacked the confidence and will to do it. "Tara, you are a powerful witch. I have absolute faith that you can do this. I can't because I've never seen the amulet. I haven't been exposed to whatever energy it's giving off, but you have. I wouldn't know what to look for."

"I don't have anything to scry with," Tara said, her eyes troubled.

Alex undid the necklace from around his neck. "Use this," he said and handed over the quartz and chain.

"I-I don't think I can do this," Tara hedged, but took the necklace anyway.

"Tara, you remember how you felt when you found the amulet? Do you remember any sensations?" Alex pressed.

Tara nodded slowly. "I remember feeling kind of uneasy and my skin tingled. There was energy surrounding the thing and me when I picked it up."

"Good. Use those feelings, concentrate on them and let the crystal do the work for you," he advised.

The witch sighed and did as Alex advised. She cleared her mind of everything but the memory of how she felt back at the St. Giovanni de Baptiste church, before everything went to hell.

The crystal on its change was held above the map and allowed to dangle freely. At first it swung wildly giving no indication that it had located the amulet. Slowly though, it began to sway back and forth, showing an East-West path. Eventually, it switched from a straight path to a circling one, centering on the Haight-Ashbury area, just east of their position. However, just when they thought that was it, the quartz piece zoomed straight east and started circling the general area of Oakland.

Seeing this, Alex started flipping though the pages of his map book and opened it up to a more detailed map of the Haight.

Tara then used the quartz crystal to pin point a more exact location where the energy was coming from. She then did the same for the Oakland location.

"Why did it point to two locations?" Dawn asked.

Tara shrugged. "It could be that the amulet had been in one of those locations long enough for it to mark the area with its energy."

Alex was busy looking at the map carefully, taking note of the area the quartz indicated.

"So what are we sitting around here for? Let's go find the damn thing so we can be done with it and go back to our lives," Faith said and attempted to pull the map away from Alex.

Alex growled at her and slapped her hand away, surprising everyone, especially Faith.

"Look here _Xander_," Faith began, pissed.

"No, you look here _Faith_," Alex interrupted her. "Unless you've got some in depth knowledge of the city and maybe a death wish, I wouldn't do that again."

Before Faith could come up with a devastating retort or at the very least, smash Alex's face in with her fist, Dawn intervened. "Guys, could you please stop with the pissing contest? Let's find the thing and be done with it, and try to avoid killing each other."

Faith rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath, indiscernible to the others, but crystal clear to Alex.

_I'd like to see her try_, is what he thought but kept the words in the inside. Dawn was right; a pissing contest between the two of them was not going to help the current situation.

Instead he kept his tone civil as he spoke out loud. "The area that the crystal indicated isn't too far away from here. There's a vegetarian restaurant, a Ben and Jerry's, and an antiques store that has a shadier reputation than most people are aware of. Somehow I don't think whoever took the amulet is interested in tofu or ice cream, so I think the antiques place might be the best bet."

"And how do you know about this place? You're a carpenter last I heard. What does a carpenter know about antiques?" Faith asked, being smart, but in all reality it was a good question. The others looked expectantly at Alex, wondering how he was going to explain this away.

He shrugged. "Due to certain talents I've discovered, I've gotten to know some of the city's more interesting elements. We'll check out the store first then, if need be, we'll head over to Oakland."

_XanderXanderXander_

They parked not too far from the store and got out.

Dawn, looking around with wonder, spoke up. "Isn't this supposed to be hippie land?"

Alex snorted. "The hippies are all now baby boomers. It's still a pretty cool place I guess, trendy and everything. There's still a counter-culture feel to the place. My friends Larry and Reed recently moved into the area. They got me to help them retrofit their home, a really beautiful old Victorian. It's nice, not exactly my style, but nice."

They came upon the store. It looked normal enough, taking up the lower floor of a multi-story building that was connected on both sides to other buildings. There was a private entrance that apparently led to the apartments that were located above the store.

"What if the amulet is in one of the apartments instead of the store?" Tara asked.

"Then we go upstairs and start kicking in some doors," was Alex's casual reply, a wicked grin on his face.

"And what happens when the cops are called?" Faith asked. "In case you've forgotten, I'm an ex-felon and I sure as all hell don't want to go back to prison."

"Then we either run like hell or get ourselves arrested," Alex shot back. "We'll worry about that when we have to. First, let's check this place out."

They went inside and found themselves in a long and narrow showroom that was crammed from top to bottom with furniture, stained-glass lamps, vases, dolls, odd statuary, etc. The place was dark, lit by the sparse sunlight that streamed through the glass plate windows, a few lamps, the occasional over-head lights. It smelled like old wood, mildew, and dust, making one's head swim.

"Can I help you?" a man asked from the back, evident disdain for the people that dared to enter his place of business. "Just so you know we do not have a public restroom here." The man was officious and snooty in attitude and looked kind of corpse-like. He was tall and skinny, to the point of looking emaciated. His hair was coal black, hung down to his chin, and greasy looking. His eyes were a pale, liquid blue that seemed like they had been trained to not focus on those he considered unimportant. His manner of dress was something out of Miami Vice – an un-constructed suit and designer t-shirt, and was absolutely out of place in a business that dealt with antiquities. The only nice thing that could be said about his appearance was at least the suit wasn't white and the t-shirt was black.

Alex and Faith looked at Tara and Dawn expectantly, both of them deciding that the gentle approach might be the best tactic to start off with; physical intimidation would come into play later if necessary.

"W-We are looking for an amulet that we heard might be here. It's a couple of inches in diameter, gold and has a blue stone in the middle," Tara spoke up.

"I don't deal in cheap costume jewelry young lady," said the man that couldn't have been much older than Tara.

"It's not cheap costume jewelry. We were told that it came to the city and were directed here," Dawn said, her eyes narrowed, not for one second did she actually believe the man. He screamed oily, lying, weasel.

"If it were here I would know, so I bid you good day." With that he turned to return to his old fashioned desk, ready to bury himself in whatever mundane task he had been involved in before they had interrupted his workday.

What he didn't count on was Alex listening to his heartbeat, checking for the telltale change in rhythm that indicated a person was lying; Alex liked to call it his Daredevil trick. Only Lonnie and Paul, members of his clan and good friends, had gotten the reference since they both had collected comic books as kids.

Unfortunately for him, he was stopped by Faith grabbing the back of his suit coat. She swung him around to face her and the others. She went to hit him in the face, but her fist was halted in mid-air by Alex.

Faith was surprised by the strength in Xander's hold on her wrist, preventing her from hitting the guy. A normal human shouldn't have the ability to out-muscle a Slayer.

"What is your name?" Alex asked the human quietly, feigning politeness.

"Scott Gentry," he said, fear in his voice and eyes.

"Scott, I think you're lying and I hate it when people lie to me. You know something about this amulet. Now you tell us what you know, or next time I won't stop this lady from beating the living shit out of you."

"You wouldn't dare!" Scott exclaimed. "My family is well connected to several important politicians and leaders in the community. One call from me and my family and I'll have all of you thrown in jail."

"Really?" Alex said, folding his arms across his chest and sat down on a fragile-looking table, enjoying the horrified look on the man's face. "Your mommy and daddy are going to come to your rescue?"

"This is all being taped and I am sure the cops will love that little piece of evidence," Scott shot back.

"Thanks for the tip," Alex said and looked up towards the far corner where a security camera was attached to the wall. With a bit of concentration, the security camera shorted out, along with the recorder that was hooked up to it. The tape that was in the machine melted into a black plastic blob.

"It doesn't matter. Once people hear about this, you'll be rotting in jail by nightfall,' the human croaked. "We have important clients and collectors that won't like the idea that you are wanting to know private information."

"Like who?"

"The Mayor, the Police Commissioner, for starters," Scott replied, trying to find the suitable names to impress his captors. "We are also good friends with Mr. Julian Luna."

"Luna you say, that is impressive. Some how I doubt Mr. Luna will actually care if you got roughed up or not," Alex said, grinning at the guy.

Scott sniffed. "Like some biker-thug would know what Mr. Luna would think. I am sure he has better things to do than hang around someone like you. Why don't you go back to your little motorcycle rally and bash heads with your boneheaded pals."

Alex smiled wickedly. Obviously this guy wasn't a member of the Herd, so he didn't have to be careful not to cross too many lines. "Yeah, my motorcycle rally thing is next week actually and this amulet the ladies have so politely asked about might interfere with my plans. Now where it is?"

The human, too stupid to realize the danger he was in, literally spit on Alex.

"Have fun Faith," was all Alex said after wiping off his face.

Faith however hesitated. "You actually want me to beat him up?" The Xander she remembered would never have agreed to this. "Surely you can't be serious?'

"It's either you beat on him or I'll torture him. Either way, someone will get a jolly out of it. And don't call me Shirley," was his glib reply.

Faith shrugged and cocked her fist back, all prepared for some pummeling. After all, she reasoned, punching the guy was better than torturing the guy.

"Okay, okay, okay! Don't hit me! The amulet was sent here and I was to hold it until someone came by. I'm only the middle-man for stuff like that."

"Do you still have it?" Dawn asked.

"No. Some guy picked it up a couple of days ago," he burbled.

"Who?" was Alex' hard-edged question.

"I don't know! I was given a phone number to call when it came in and someone came by and picked it up."

"Do you have the phone number?" Faith asked, slightly disappointed that the man had caved in that easily. Hitting him sounded like it could have been fun.

"It's in my file box on the desk."

Dawn and Tara moved over to the desk and flipped open the index card box. In the front was a card labeled "amulet from Naples – 720-0027.

"Got it," Dawn called out happily.

"See how easy that was? Things don't have to be all confrontational between us. We wanted some info, you had the info we wanted. We could have been the best of friends, but you had to go and ruin the possibility of us forming a lasting bond," Alex said. "Now, I could say you had better not tell anyone we were here or I'll have to come back and go ahead with my torture idea. However, you aren't the type to keep his word, plus I have Back-to-School night at my daughter's school tonight so I really don't have the time, so I'll just do this," he chuckled.

Alex touched the human's forehead and focused, drawing on Power to effectively erase the memories created in the last fifteen minutes. What he was doing was somewhat similar to what he had done to Buffy and Willow, but with less care to the man's safety and well-being than he had for his two Sunnydale friends three years in the past.

When done, the human sagged, his eyes closing with a snap that was almost audible. Alex picked him up as if he were weightless and deposited him at the desk, resting his head on a stack of books.

The women stood there and gaped at him.

"What? And let him call the cops or something?" Alex exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "And yes, I have Back-to-School night tonight. I can't miss it or Alexia will have a fit."

* * *

A/N: Well, opinions anyone? Crap or not; hit the shiny review button let me know what you think. 

This was a long chapter but kind of fun to write. Faith and Xander are kind of confrontational right now and are butting heads. As for the question of will Faith find out about Xander and the existence of the Kindred or not is something that will eventually be dealt with.

Thank you to everyone for at least reading my story. I do appreciate it. Also, I want to give an even bigger thank you to those of you that have added NLTZ 3 to your lists and for dropping me a review. I appreciate you taking the time to do so.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and violence

A/N: I have never been to Oakland and haven't been to the shipyards there. The only time I've been to a shipyard was several years ago in Charleston (ex-boyfriend was in the Navy), so any scenery mentioned in this chapter about the Port of Oakland will be a product of my imagination and a brief internet search that did not yield too much info. Also, I am sure that a major port of entry would be more secure considering the climate that we live in than what I've described, but let's not dwell, shall we? So if I got it wrong, find it in your heart to forgive me and my Mid-West, landlocked upbringing.

* * *

Alex snapped his cell phone shut and turned back to the women who were standing by the SUV waiting for him. "Sonny is tracing the phone number. He said that it's most likely to a cell phone."

"Who's Sonny? Can he be trusted?" Faith asked with her arms folded across her chest.

Alex laughed out loud. _Irony_, he thought, _is funny. Faith is wondering if someone can be trusted._ "Sonny is cop," said, smirking just a tad. "He said it will take time to figure out whose number that was and then if it is a cell phone like he thinks, it will take awhile to track it as it passes through towers. And as for trusting Sonny, he's pretty together."

"So what do we do in the mean time? We just wait?" Dawn asked. "What about Oakland? Also, how can you trust a cop to not turn this into a case?'

"I want to see what Sonny comes up with first. It won't help us to go rushing into something without knowing what we're facing," Alex explained. "Sonny isn't your average cop, by the way, and knows about the things that go bump in the night."

"But what if we miss them? What if while we're standing around, the people that killed Buffy and Willow get away?" Dawn insisted, looking up at Alex with tearful blue eyes.

"Dawn, I can't avenge the death of a Slayer. You know that. No offense Faith. However, I have a feeling that these people won't disappear off the face of the Earth," Alex explained. "I had a dream or something last night. I spoke to Buffy and Willow. They said that something is coming down our way, something big. Rushing into something is not going to help. I would rather wait to hear from Sonny before we head over across the bay. He said it would take about two hours or so to get the info we need. Might I suggest that we go get some lunch in the mean time?"

"What do you mean you can't avenge Buffy?" Faith asked, looking at Alex squarely in the face, her gaze unwavering. "Back in the day you would have lead the charge to make things five-by-five for Buffy. Why not now, what's different?"

Duh?

"Things are different Faith. I am sure you'll learn exactly what eventually, but I can't just open up and share. Plus, I'm not sure you're ready for it or that I can trust you," he grunted, looking at some point in the distance.

"Why not," Faith challenged him.

Alex gave her a-not-so-friendly smile. "There are many reasons Faith. One, you haven't proved to me that I can trust you. Obviously Dawn and Tara seem to trust you, but I haven't made up my mind yet. Last time I remember trusting you, you tried to strangle me. That alone makes me pretty hesitant to start up a whole trust thing."

"Oh," Faith said, shrugging, but mentally cringing at that horrible memory. She could have easily seriously hurt or killed the boy whose only crime had been trying to reach out to her. "What's another reason?"

Alex looked at her with a calm, but piercing gaze. "I've made some pretty big promises to some people that I can't just break without a good reason."

Faith didn't say anything in response, but instead gave him a cool appraising look, as if she were looking for whatever it was about him that made her uneasy.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Dawn asked, with her hand on her hips, looking annoyed.

Alex checked his watch. "It's close to eleven. Let's go get something to eat. By the time we're done, Sonny will have something for us."

"Where?" Faith asked, mentally counting her cash reserves.

"Have any of you ever been to San Francisco?" he asked and all three women shook their heads no. "Okay, let's go down to Fisherman's Wharf. You guys will love it down there. There're several places around there that you'll like."

With that, he climbed into the vehicle and started it up, forcing the others to join him or be left behind.

They drove through the city, took Van Ness to Cervantes to reach the waterfront area. Alex parked the car in the Pier 39 public garage. They crossed the busy street to reach the popular tourist destination.

"So what are you in the guys for? We got the Hard Rock Café, Bedouin, an overpriced pizza place further down the pier, and tons of seafood places everywhere," he said, allowing the others to choose where they wanted to dine.

"Oh!" Dawn squealed. "Seafood! I demand seafood!"

Alex smiled at her enthusiasm. He was pretty sure that it had been awhile, even before Buffy had died that Dawn had truly enjoyed herself. "How about Pier Market? It's on the Pier and I've been told that the food is excellent."

Tara and Faith both shrugged; neither of them really caring about where they ate and quickly gave into Dawn's preference for lunch.

Alex didn't worry too much about Faith not caring, but he worried about Tara. She had barely eaten any breakfast, if at all. Dinner the night before had been barely touched.

"Tara," he said quietly, "you have to eat. Not eating isn't going to help anything."

"I just," she tried to explain herself, but couldn't find the words to properly express how she had no appetite, how it seemed like too much of an effort to even try.

"I know but you're wasting away and that's not good. I have a horrible feeling that this whole thing is going to go sideways and I need you to be there. If you don't even have the strength to walk a block, you definitely won't have the strength to be there when it all goes down. I know how much you miss her, but starving yourself isn't going to help," Alex said, his voice gentle and kind. Impulsively he took her hand and squeezed, offering a physical token of his understanding and support.

Tara offered up a small smile. It wasn't much, but it was something. "I'll try," she whispered.

Together they walked down the pier to the restaurant with the blue awning. They sat out on the patio, enjoying the breeze that caused the awning and near-by flags to snap. The waitress came and took their orders. The women were worried about the cost, but Alex waved away their concerns, telling them that lunch was on them.

"Xan, I mean Alex," Tara began, correcting herself. "You bought us dinner last night. You aren't made of money. We do have a Watcher's Council credit card."

Alex grinned. "My business is doing very well. My partners and I have built - excuse the pun, a solid company. We usually end up with more work than we can handle. That, plus my side work for Luna more than pays the bills."

"Luna?" Faith asked her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "That sleaze-bag at the antiques store mentioned someone named Luna. How do you know such an apparently esteemed member of society?"

Alex groaned to himself. Faith was smart, a lot smarter than people gave her credit, and it was only natural that she would pick up on something like that. It was odd that a carpenter, biker-like guy like him would know a member of society.

"Julian and I met awhile ago. He's a bit different in many respects, but he is also keenly aware of the demon population that inhabits the city, especially since you guys shit-canned Sunnydale. Many times it interferes with his business dealings and thanks to my experiences on the Hellmouth, I've gotten jobs helping to keep a lid on the more nefarious elements that are considered bothersome," he said, doing his best to keep the whole truth out of his tale.

"You," Faith said skeptically, though if she were completely honest and open, Xander had always been the one to make sure things were taken care of, that the nasties in the world were eliminated when no one else thought to check to make sure the job was actually over and done with. Of course he would carry on the fight, no matter where he lived. His conscious wouldn't let him turn a blind eye to a problem.

"I've learned a few things since you last saw me Faith. I can hold my own in a fight now, even without magic. Plus I tend to come armed with a little more than a stake in one hand and a bottle of holy water in the other," he said, shrugging with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Who are you? Really," Faith said, carefully evaluating the guy sitting across from her. When she really focused on Xander, he gave off the impression that said danger, keep away. There was some sort of vibe coming from him that screamed crossing him would not be a good idea. "You've changed."

Giles, when he had called her yesterday afternoon, asking her to go to San Francisco to check up on Tara and Dawn, he had told her to be cautious around Xander. He wouldn't say why, but he warned her that he might be dangerous. Initially she had laughed it off, but the serious reprimand from Giles had stilled her laughter. He told her to make sure that he wasn't leading the women down a dark road that there was no turning back from. He also told her to push him just a bit, to gauge his reactions, to see if he pushed back, to see if he was trustworthy enough to be allowed around Dawn and Tara. He told her that if in any way he were to do something unworldly, she was to get the others out of there pronto and call him. At that point, he said, he'd send in his army of Slayers.

Faith figured that Giles was worried about Xander having these magical abilities and had taken a turn to the Dark Side and would endanger the others. However, there was something about Xander that deeply disturbed her, causing her Slayer-senses to start tingling.

Alex sat there, evaluating the dark-haired Slayer, from behind mirrored sunglasses. His brown eyes appraised her carefully. "Yes and no," was all he would say, causing Faith no small amount of frustration.

Luckily their food arrived, preventing any further questioning.

Tara, true to her word, forced herself to eat and found herself enjoying the clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl and salad that she had ordered. Dawn dug into her Linguini and clams with gusto and Faith attacked her order of shark, with sides of coleslaw and rice.

Alex also ordered a cup of clam chowder and toyed with it, doing his best to make it look like he was eating something. Seafood didn't always agree with him, but forced himself to maintain the masquerade that all was normal with him and that there wasn't anything _different_ about him. He had to excuse himself once and throw up the small amount of human food he had consumed.

"You okay?" Tara asked, looking at him with concern.

"Yeah," he said, but refused to elaborate. Talking about his puking his guts out was not appropriate table conversation, Kindred or no.

Once they were done and Alex had paid the bill, they walked along the Pier, checking out the various shops and sites. They loved the carousel, the open air produce market, the view of Alcatraz, and the women absolutely loved seeing the sea lions that had taken up residence at Pier 39 after the Northridge earthquake.

While the women and other tourists were gushing over the sea lions, Alex phone rang. He excused himself and moved further away from the group, seeking some sort of privacy.

It was Sonny with the information. The last time the cell phone had been used, a tower pinged it at the shipyards over in Oakland. He also told him that the cell was from a generic pre-paid phone, probably bought at Wal-Mart or somewhere similar, and registered under the name John Maddox. There was no sure way to determine if the name was for real or if it were a fake. Sonny had run a check through the police to see if there was a record on this John Maddox person. Nothing had come up from the state or federal files. While it was possible that the person who had owned the phone had never ran into trouble with the law, it was more likely that the name was fake, hiding the person who really owned the phone. Sonny also warned the younger Gangrel to be careful.

Alex thanked the Ventrue primogen and snapped the phone shut, ending their conversation.

He returned to the group and told them what was up. He herded them back to the car, paid the parking attendant, and took off for Oakland.

_XanderXanderXander_

They crossed the bay and headed into Oakland. Alex quickly drove across the bridge and over to the ship yards. As he was driving, Alex instructed Tara to keep alert and do her best to sense the energies being given off by the amulet. While Sonny was able to give him a generalized idea of where the cell phone had been, he had been unable to tell him exactly where the cell had been located.

After driving around for several minutes, Tara directed Alex to a more remote building that was close to the land that had been annexed from the Army.

Alex parked his car well away from the building, keeping another building between them and their target. They got out and went to the side of their building, and peaked their heads around the corner to take a look at their target for themselves.

The building itself looked weathered and old. The metal walls were grey, with occasional spots of rust showing through the paint. The ground level windows were covered with grime and iron bars, preventing someone getting a glimpse of what was going on in the inside. Weeds were growing up all around the building, adding to the look of neglect that the building was suffering from.

One thing of note was at least three vehicles, all expensive SUVs parked outside the front of the building. Alex, thinking ahead, well aware that as much information as possible could be necessary and useful, read off the license plates to Dawn who copied them down on a scrap of paper Tara had handed her.

"How can you see that far away?" Faith hissed.

"Been eating my carrots," was his terse reply. He then pulled back and returned to his car, gesturing for the other's to follow him.

He popped open the back of the vehicle and quickly released the latch that kept the spare tire hidden and out of sight. He lifted up the false floor and revealed his stash of tools and weapons that he used when fighting Primordials and various demon-y types; the spare tire was missing.

Looking over at Dawn, Tara, and Faith, he sized them up quickly. He handed bullet-proof vest to Dawn that actually belonged to Emily and handed his own to Tara. While it was too big for her, it offered her protection from flying bullets. Unfortunately, he did not have a third one for Faith.

"Keep your head down and try not to get shot," he said.

Faith responded with an eye-roll.

Next he took out a Remington Model 1100 tactical shotgun and slung it over his shoulder. Next he pulled out a M&P Compact .40 S&W with holster. He undid his belt and slid the holster into place and he re-threaded the belt through the loops on his jeans. Alex then un-tucked his shirt, letting it conceal the weapon at his waist. While no one was going to mistake the shotgun for something else, since it was pretty obvious, the handgun could offer an element of surprise to who ever was actually in the building. When he was done arming himself and checking to make sure he had enough ammunition, he looked over at the humans.

All three women had horrified looks on their faces.

"What?"

"Since when did you become the poster boy for the NRA?" Faith asked, looking at him suspiciously. "Hell, do you even know how to use any of that without putting out your eye?"

Alex fought the urge of snapping her neck right then and there. "Stakes and wooden arrows aren't going to help us. And yes, surprisingly enough, I do know how to not look down the barrel of a loaded gun. You obviously don't," he said, the true meaning of his words passing over Faith's head by a mile.

"I don't like going into a fight with someone that I have no idea if they are going to accidentally shoot me instead of the bad guys," Faith shot back.

"Who says it'd be an accident," he sniped back. "Also, your guys' job is to stay down and out of my way. You're not going to be doing the fighting."

"And just who the hell are you to tell me what I'm going to do?" Faith shot back, pissed. She stepped up, getting in his face, openly challenging his authority to lead the group.

Alex's eyes grew darker, his expression colder. "Unless you're willing to be the shooter, because I can guarantee you with ninety-nine percent certainty, whatever is in there will be shooting back, you goddamn will do what I tell you and shut your fucking mouth or I'll throw you into the Bay myself and jump for joy when either a shark gets you or a ship runs you over."

With that, Alex spun on his heel and returned to the corner of the building that they were hiding behind, watching the target building.

He looked over the building that was his target, noting how it backed up to the water, therefore eliminating that possible approach. He was able to catch a glimpse of one of the sides of the building and saw that there was a door far away from the main entrance.

Alex gestured for the others to stay back, to wait for him to signal that all was clear before they took off. He broke into run across the gaping maw of open territory that was between his building of safety and his target. He arrived within a blink of the eye, not worrying about whether or not Faith saw his use of inhuman speed, crouching beneath a dirty window, trying his best to remain concealed from the building's occupants.

Looking briefly through the window, he gestured towards the others that it was safe for them to cross the road separating them.

Faith, seeing Xander's motions for them to hurry up and join him, sent Dawn and Tara on ahead, knowing that while the both of them were in pretty good shape, she would easily out pace them, leaving them exposed to what, or who, ever was in the building. She figured that between the two of them, the women would be better off if they were in between her and Xander.

She had seen how fast Xander ran, knowing instinctively that there was no way a normal human could move like that. She was torn between the idea that Xander had gotten himself a magical power-up and the idea that Xander was no longer human. There were a few problems with both ideas. She knew that Xander wasn't the type to abuse magic like that; it would have been totally out of character for him to do something like that.

Her other idea of Xander not being completely human also had problems she thought. Xander had always hated the vampires in Sunnydale and had always lacked trust in those that weren't completely normal, Buffy, Oz, and maybe Anya were the only exceptions to that rule that she could remember. It would seem very unlikely, in her opinion, that Xander would join up and start playing on some sort of demonic team.

She could not deny how unnaturally swift Xander had been, nor could she ignore how edgy being around Xander made her feel. Something was definitely up and she wondered if this dark secret that filled him was something more than just him playing around with magic that had caused Giles to ask her to check him out.

Once Dawn and Tara had arrived safely, Faith waited for Xander to signal all clear. Once he did, she took off, using her Slayer-fortified speed to cross the road in a fraction of the time it took the other women.

Alex tested the door and noted that it was locked. He looked at Tara who rolled her eyes.

The witch closed her eyes and placed her hands on the door know and deadbolt. With a few whispered words, the others heard a faint click of the door being unlocked.

Alex squeezed her arm affectionately and turned to the others. "I know I can't make you guys stay out here, though it would make things a bit easier for me. Just find some cover, keep your head down, and stay out of sight. The people in here will have no problem with killing you," he said, finally able to get a general sense of the people who were occupying the building; what he had expected but had prayed that it not be.

Brujah.

_XanderXanderXander_

The four of them crept through the cavernous building, dodging wooden crates that were stacked hap hazardously from floor to ceiling. Many of the piles looked as if they were about to fall over and crush whoever happened to be around.

They could hear voices talking, at least four individuals.

"What does the boss want us to do?" asked the first unknown man.

"He said to wait here for him and guard the thing with our lives," a second man, with a gruff voice, said.

"What's the big deal about this little piece of costume jewelry? When did the Brujah cared about gaudy pieces of crap? Do I look like a fucking Toreador?" a third man asked, sounding pissed.

A slapping sound rang out followed by a fourth voice. "No, you look like a fucking dead man if the boss catches you touching that gaudy piece of crap. He said for you to keep your hands to yourself."

Just then something scuffled somewhere in the warehouse. It wasn't a member of Alex's group, but whatever it was, was loud enough to put the Brujah on alert.

"Go check it out," the fourth man, a large and brutish-looking thug (though that could easily apply to over half of the Brujah) ordered two of his companions.

One of the Brujah, whom Alex recognized as being Lucas Foley – a member of Cameron's inner circle started towards him and his group.

"Go," Alex hissed at the women and pointed to a metal container near-by that they were to hide behind.

Faith looked defiant.

Alex mentally smacked himself upside the head for including the dark-haired Slayer on this jaunt. He drew the hand gun from its holster and pressed it into Faith's hands, ignoring the look of revulsion on her face. "Protect them at all costs," he ordered her and moved off, his foot falls silent on the cement floor.

Alex moved silently as a cat, letting his preternatural senses guide him. He wove a path around boxes labeled in several different languages; many of the boxes lacked the proper stickers as marking them as having passed through customs.

He opened his senses, knowing that as he did, he made himself a more noticeable target to the Brujah. The trade off was that they would possibly ignore the women and at the same time, let him use his predatory senses at their peak.

He saw the other Kindred moving in and out of the boxes, searching for the source of their disturbance. They also had their weapons drawn, ready to shoot who ever had disturbed them. They were also predators, searching for their prey.

Finally, it was inevitable, the one Alex recognized as being Foley literally crossed Alex's path. Foley was more surprised than Alex and stood still a second longer than what was wise. Alex head butted him, smashing his forehead into the Brujah's nose, shattering it. Alex followed it up with an upper cut to Foley's chin with the butt of his shotgun, sending the Brujah flying backwards into several smaller wooden crates.

"Fuck," Alex swore and swung around, scanning the area around him, looking for the others that he knew were coming. The ruckus he and Foley had caused would have alerted Helen Keller.

He took off, putting several obstacles between him and Foley, always moving towards the front of the building.

His luck did not hold out and he came across the other Brujah. The guy was built like a professional football player, tall and broad across the chest. The only hair on the guy's head was a bleached blond goatee. His eyes glowed bright yellow, fangs dropped down, exposing their razor sharpness.

Before Alex could react, it was his turn to be on the receiving end of a head butt and a fist to the face, causing him to crash to the ground.

He picked himself up off the floor, shook his head and growled menacingly at the Brujah. His eyes glowed amber and his own fangs dropped.

The shotgun he had with him had been tossed several feet from his current position. With Kindred swiftness, Alex dove for the weapon, grabbing the barrel as he rolled. With expert precision, he chambered a round and fired at his attacker and missed.

Alex worked the action, and fired again, this time catching the Brujah in mid-leap, hitting him in the side. It was enough to cause him to falter, but not enough to kill him.

The Brujah reached him, wounded and enraged. He punched Alex hard and followed it with a cross.

Alex again stumbled, feeling blood trickling down the side of his face and into his eyes, the shot gun lost. With a swipe of his hand, he caught some of the blood before it could obscure his vision. He licked the crimson liquid from his fingers, grinning madly at his opponent.

The Gangrel launched himself at the Brujah, claws out. He swiped at the other guy, grinning in satisfaction when bright red stripes appeared across the Brujah's face. However, he did not stop there. Alex kicked his opponent in the knee cap with enough force to shatter the joint, causing the leg to buckle backwards. He then followed it up with vicious punches and crosses, causing the Brujah to crash to the ground. Alex leapt upon his opponent, knocking him to the ground. Over and over the rolled, slashing at each other with claws, punching each other with enough force to turn a normal person to a bloody pulp.

While they were busy brutalizing each other, they did not notice Faith, who had left the relative safety of the back of the warehouse and found the two Kindred going at it like rabid dogs. Not only was she shocked at seeing how vicious the fight was, she was shocked beyond belief to see Xander Harris looking the way he did.

He looked animalistic, his short dark hair wild, his eyes glowing. The teeth alone were enough to cause nearly anyone a heart attack. Blood was running down his face, his clothes were torn. His fingernails were actual claws. This was not the normal, human Xander she remembered from Sunnydale.

Alex looked up from his position on the floor to see Faith standing there, staring at him, shock on her face.

Looking beyond her, he saw a third Brujah, this one with an AK-74 in his hands. With a powerful shove with both of his feet, he launched the heavier Kindred off him, desperation giving him the extra adrenaline burst.

Once free of the massive weight, he sprang to his feet, ignoring the pain that was coursing through his body. With no time to shout a warning, he launched himself at Faith, knocking her out of the way just as the other pulled the trigger, firing three rounds into his chest.

"Move it!" the Brujah yelled. "Gil, let's go!"

"What about Lucas?" shouted the Brujah, which had been fighting Alex, as he picked himself off the dirty concrete floor and started to limp away.

"Fuck him! The amulet is what's important. Let's go," the leader of the group yelled and took off with Gil in hot pursuit.

Alex tried to tell Faith to quit standing around, to go shoot the bastards, stop them from escaping, but the bullets had hit one of his lungs, making it difficult to talk.

What was worse was the gaping hole in his chest. While the wound wasn't necessarily fatal, the blood pouring from the injury would result in his true death if he didn't find a source to replace the lost volume.

"Oh shit!" Faith breathed, staring down at Xander's prone form.

"Xander!" Dawn screeched, running up to join Faith with Tara right behind her.

"Oh Goddess," Tara breathed, looking down at Alex. "You've been shot!"

"Thanks for the news flash Tara," Alex ground out. He didn't mean to be snarky towards her, but he couldn't help it. He had a hole in his chest and was sitting in a pool of his own blood.

"He's a fucking vampire!" Faith snarled, pointing her gun at him.

Alex would have launched into his whole speech about how he wasn't a goddamn Primordial vampire, that he was Kindred, and how his kind were not demons, but he had a couple of problems. The first was the sucking chest wound and the small fact that he was bleeding to death. Despite the ability among the Kindred to heal most injuries with little difficulty, gaping wounds and wounds from Kindred claws were harder to heal without an infusion of blood. Along with the blood loss, he was now vulnerable to the sun's rays and then there was the small fact that he was _hungry_ and having three humans near him was not helping in the least bit.

He pushed himself into an upright position and then forced himself to stand, ignoring the horrible burning sensation in his chest and the niggling, aching feeling of hunger. He knew that if he could just feed, he could heal his chest and stop the torment.

"Faith, just give me a chance to explain everything. But first I need to feed and you guys need to get away from me," Alex begged them, his eyes glowed and his fangs were visible.

Dawn started towards him, her instinct was to help him, and unmindful of the danger she was placing herself in.

Faith grabbed her arm, halting her progress forward. "I don't think so."

"Let me go Faith! Xander's different from the vampires you've known," Dawn protested, struggling in Faith's iron-strong grip.

"Bull shit."

"Faith I swear on my daughter's life I'll explain everything. But you guys need to leave. Dawn, I am ordering you to stay away from me. Faith, don't let her go," Alex begged the Slayer, feeling the nagging sensation growing to something more. He knew that if they didn't get away from him, he wouldn't be able to control himself. Their blood was calling to him.

"Faith please," Tara gently said. "He's different from even the likes of Angel and Spike. If you can't trust him, trust me." She then turned to Alex. "You said you needed to feed. Will mine help?" she offered her wrist to her.

Alex looked horrified, but couldn't help but be tempted by her offer. "No. I don't think I could control myself. Just wait outside, please."

Faith, while not trusting Xander in the least, found her self trusting Tara. "Fine, but what are you going to be doing for your afternoon snack?"

The Gangrel licked his lips, thinking about how good her blood would taste. "I've got it covered Faith. Get away from me now. Please," he rasped, barely hanging on to a sliver of control.

Faith looked suspicious and untrusting of him, which was only natural. She hesitated then lowered the gun and backed away, dragging Dawn with her.

Tara followed with a slight hesitation. She was worried about her friend.

_XanderXanderXander_

Alex retraced his steps through the warehouse, avoiding the occasional streams of sunlight that shined through the windows. He found Lucas unconscious in a heap on the floor; he must have hit the Brujah harder that he thought.

He picked up the other's wrist and bit down, his teeth piercing the skin, causing the blood to flow. He drank deeply, ignoring the bitter taste of the Brujah's blood, knowing that while it didn't taste the best, it would be enough to help him heal and avoid frying in the sunshine.

Alex took what he needed and made sure it wouldn't kill the other Kindred. He knew that while killing the Brujah wouldn't weigh too much on his conscious, Lucas would serve well as proof that the Brujah, and probably Cameron too, were behind this play for power.

As he finished up feeding, the Brujah started to wake up. Alex responded by punching him in the face, knocking him out.

Sighing, but feeling tons better, he picked up the inert form at his feet and heaved the heavy body over his shoulder. He made his way back to the scene of him being shot, picked up the shotgun. Alex made a brief look at where the Brujah had been and saw that there was nothing there; amulet had been taken.

Fuck.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know.

I would also like to give a special shout out to Bumpkin, Methos, and TAO. You guys are awesome and this chapter would have not happened without you and I probably would have quit writing this story long ago. Also, Methos: I think I need the abridged version of the abridged version of the manual and maybe a "Kindred RPG for Morons" book. Your version was too high up there. My head hurts!!!


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and violence

* * *

"Can one of you go get the car please?" Alex asked, sounding tired.

All three women looked up at him.

Tara and Dawn, bless them, looked relieved to see their friend standing on his two feet. They had been worried and there was a reasonable amount of fear over what they had just seen, but relief was the overriding emotion they felt when they Alex standing there.

Faith however looked pissed. Her dark eyes were narrowed. "So what the fuck are you?" she asked, obviously a bit hostile. "You looked like a vampire, sort of."

"I'm Kindred actually," he sighed and dumped the person he was carrying onto the concrete floor. "Tara, can you or Dawn go get the car and bring it around. I can't take Sleeping Beauty out into the sun least he get a bad burn. Bring it around and grab the blanket in the back."

Tara grabbed the keys and went to retrieve the car since she didn't trust Dawn to not drive it into the bay. The former Key's driving skills had clearly been inherited from her older sister. Within minutes she was back and handed the heavy blanket to Alex who draped the material over the Brujah and picked him up again.

He moved to the vehicle, but Faith stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"I want some answers," she ordered him.

Alex sighed and forced himself to remain calm. He was still hungry for he had taken as little as possible (though it was enough to make Foley vulnerable to the sun) and he knew that if he allowed Faith to get under his skin, he would do something he would definitely later regret. "Faith, I know that and I will explain everything to. You deserve the truth," he said and prayed to God that Luna wouldn't skin him alive (which was always a very real and literal possibility). "Let me first reassure you, for what it's worth, that I am not like the vampires you've known. We pride ourselves on _not_ being like the Primordials that flock to Hellmouths and better yet, we still possess our souls. Just give me a chance, but in the meantime we have to get him," he gestured towards the Brujah slung over his shoulder, "to where he can be interrogated and dealt with. Please just trust me for a bit longer."

Faith glared at him, thinking it over. Xander had never lied to her. Out of all of the original Scoobies, Xander had always been the one to be straight with her, not giving her the usual run-around, bullshit. "Fine, but any funny crap and I swear to God that I will kill you."

Alex fought the urge to smirk at her and say something smart, knowing that it would only piss her off. "Good. Tara, I need you to drive. Dawn, you sit up front with her. Faith and I will keep Chuckles here company in the back," he said, arranging things so that Faith would feel more comfortable with the others being around him.

He dumped Foley onto the floor of the backseat area and climbed in. Faith ran around to the other side and climbed in as well. Dawn joined Tara in the front.

"Where am I going?" she asked, looking at the pair in the back.

"We're going to Luna's," he said and began to give her directions that would take her to the mansion.

Alex also began to explain to Faith about the Kindred.

"You mean to tell me that you willingly volunteered to be apart of this undead club?" Faith asked, astonished that Boy-Toy Xander would do something like that, especially considering how down he had been on the vamps in Sunnydale.

"I was offered the chance to join the Gangrel clan when I met Emily here six years ago. I absolutely loved her from the moment I laid my eyes on her and I couldn't imagine being away from her. Becoming Kindred was right for me. I got away from the Hellmouth and its influences. It's not like it is for the vamps on a Hellmouth. We don't necessarily turn into monsters. We're both good and bad, just like anyone else. We just have longer to prove where we stand than most," he said simply.

As they were discussing the difference between Kindred and Primordials and why the Masquerade existed, Foley started to come around as they crossed the Oakland Bay Bridge and entered San Francisco.

Alex reached out and held his hand open in front of Faith. "Give me the gun please," he said quietly, careful to keep any sound of threat out of his voice.

Faith shook herself and looked down in horror and surprise at the weapon in her hand, as if she had forgotten she still held it.

"Faith, I swear to all that I'm not like the ones you know," he said and gently took the firearm from her hands.

He then switched personalities immediately as he turned his focus from Faith to the Brujah. Checking to make sure the safety was off; he pressed the barrel to the back of the Brujah's head.

"You move at all, even twitch in the slightest, I will blow your fucking brains out without any hesitation. I can always get my car detailed. I doubt you could get a new head as easily."

The Brujah snarled and struggled slightly. In his struggle, he exposed himself to sunlight and got himself a slight case of sunburn. The smell of burning flesh filled the car.

Alex moved to reposition the blanket, covering Foley once again. "Or I could always kick you out the door of the car and let the sunlight take care of you," he said, laughing evilly, disturbing the women.

"Turn here," he instructed Tara, directing her to pull up to a set of iron gates that guarded a Spanish-influenced mansion.

Alex rolled down his window and spoke to one of the guards, a ghoul whom readily recognized the young Gangrel and let his car pass through.

"Park near the front door," he said and then turned to Faith. "I know you don't trust me very well right now and I understand. However, please find it somewhere in you to trust me just a tiny bit here. You're going to be going into the home of the prince of the city. Whatever you do, don't piss the guy off. Luna would have no problem killing you if you threaten him or the Masquerade and I will not stop him. I can't. If you see Daedelus – he looks a bit like a monster to some, do not freak. He's actually a gentle soul, well – as gentle as Kindred can get. Otherwise, you will end up dead and so could I for bringing you. Please don't make Alexia lose another parent," he pleaded with the Slayer.

"Faith," Tara said gently as she turned off the vehicle. "Dawn and I trust Xander and Mr. Luna. If we want to get the amulet and stop this impending doom that is headed our way, we need you to play nice."

Faith looked suspicious, but she didn't look out right hostile anymore. "Fine, but if someone tries to bite me, they're looking at a whole lot of hurt and don't think this conversation is over."

Alex smiled faintly. "Thank you," he said quietly. "I promise that we'll do the sharing later. Just remember to be nice."

"Oh. I can do nice," Faith said and gave him a very fake-sweet smile.

"Oh God," Alex moaned but pressed the gun once again to the Brujah's head when he started making comments about the Gangrel and the human filth he was bringing into the prince's home. "Don't tempt me asshole."

Cash opened up the door and looked at his childe in surprise. "Checking in?" he asked, surveying the humans and the smoking blanketed form that Alex was pushing ahead of himself. "What the fuck happened to you? You're covered in blood!"

"Cash," Alex greeted his sire as he and his entourage entered the home. "It's been a long ass day. Do you have a shirt for me somewhere and something to drink? And is Luna available?" he asked.

Once inside he yanked the blanket off the Brujah and shoved him towards a couple of Ventrue that were standing near-by. "You might want to put him somewhere secure for now," he glared daggers at Foley. "He and three other Brujahs had the amulet at a warehouse over in Oakland."

"Where is it now?" Cash asked as the other Kindred dragged the struggling Brujah away, probably to the Prison of Light.

"It's gone. I had a tiny run in with an AK-74 and I couldn't stop them from escaping. Also, I need to confess something," he said and had trouble meeting his sire's gaze.

"Oh do you?" Cash asked, really not wanting to hear what Alex was going to say.

"I had to feed off of the Brujah I just brought in," he said quietly.

"You had better have a good reason for this," Cash growled at Alex.

"I got shot and was bleeding out. My choices were to bleed to death, Frenzy and probably end up killing the humans, or feed from Lucas. I didn't take any more that what I needed, obviously I didn't drain him and in no way did I touch his soul. Daedelus can tell you if I did anything like that to him, if you need proof."

Cash looked over at Faith. "Who's she?" he asked, looking at her with a jaundiced eye. He recognized Tara and Dawn (though, he thought appreciatively, Dawn Summers had definitely grown up since he had last seen her).

"This is Faith Lehane. She was sent here by the head of the Watcher's Council to check up on Tara and Dawn and to make sure they were safe."

"She's a fucking slayer, isn't she?" Cash said, gritting his teeth.

Before Alex could reply, Faith stepped up and used some common sense. "I am, but Xander, I mean Alex, explained some things to me and told me that you guys are not like the vamps I've been dealing with since I was called. Don't be mad at him. He saved my life. Alex knocked me out of the way and got shot for it. He nearly died to protect you guys and prevent a war with the Council," she said, giving him her most winning smile.

"Goddamn it Alex! I fucking don't want to deal with this, not now," he said, clearly irritated. "I'm pretty sure what happened falls into the realm of exceptions, but you had better toe the line and don't pull this kind of shit again."

Alex offered up a small, grim smile. "I will. So, any hope that I can borrow a shirt and get something to drink? I have to pick Alexia up from school and I don't want her to see this," he asked.

"Yeah," Cash sighed. "Go on into the study. Luna's in there. Slayer," he said, looking at Faith, "we have the Masquerade for a reason. We don't like outsiders knowing about us, much less a bunch of stake-wielding Slayers. Taylor is an exception because she was Herd before she became a slayer, you don't have that privilege. Watch yourself and Alex, if she does anything that threatens Luna, I want her dead. I don't care if she was a friend from your human past. You're Kindred. That's where your loyalties should lie."

Alex nodded; words were unnecessary and would only further disturb the Slayer.

Faith looked suspicious. "What's to say you guys won't kill me anyway?"

"Nothing," was Cash's chilling response and he turned away and disappeared further into the house.

Faith looked at Alex in disbelief. He could only shrug.

_XanderXanderXander_

Alex knocked on the heavy study door, briefly flashing back to when he had last been here with Tara and Dawn. Then he had to deal with Buffy and Willow, now he would have Faith to contend with. However, Faith, in direct contrast to Buffy and Willow, seemed to be calmer. While she might be apprehensive and there was a sense of unease, Faith was handling the news pretty well. Of course that could always change.

"Come," Luna called out.

Alex entered, followed by the women.

"Why do you reek of blood?" was Luna's first question, his dark eyes taking in the sight of the Gangrel before him. He slowly stood up and placed his hands palms down on his desk, as if it were helping to prop him up and give him the necessary strength to face what the Gangrel would say.

"I got shot over in Oakland," he replied, refusing to give Luna the full details. He would only confess to what had happened afterwards if Luna would ask him directly and specifically.

"Obviously you survived," the Prince said caustically. "Did you learn anything of value? Also, while I recognize Miss Maclay and Miss Summers, I do not know this young lady," Luna said, staring directly at Faith.

Alex took a deep breath, praying that it wouldn't be his last, as the cliché went. "This is Faith Lehane. She was sent here by the Watchers' Council to make sure Dawn and Tara were safe and to help out with the search for the amulet."

"She's a Slayer," Luna simply said.

"Yeah," was all Alex could say in reply.

Luna looked up at him, eyes narrowed. "Do I need to remind you about why we have the Masquerade to begin with?"

"No sir. Faith saw me fight one of the Brujah we found over at the warehouse in the shipyards and she then saw me get shot. She is a slayer, but unlike some others, Faith here is a bit calmer than others," he lied just a tad with that one, "and I feel that she can be trusted."

Luna gave him an icy look, one that spoke of the power that the man could wield without any effort. "I see. Miss Lehane," he said calmly, "I do not like the idea of a Slayer loose in my city. This is Kindred territory. Primordials are discouraged from the area and we take care of the ones that decide to show up. Secrecy is very important to us, thus the Masquerade. We are not like the vampires that you have known. If you stay here, you are to operate only in conjunction with Harris and if you step out of line, I will have you killed. Do I make myself clear?"

Faith, being far from an idiot, could clearly see that this was not the time to piss off the vampire. Luna, in her opinion, was someone that would not have a problem with ordering her death. The man was all seriousness and business, like the Mayor from Sunnydale. But unlike the Mayor, Luna wasn't crazy.

Also, she noted, this Luna guy was pretty hot.

"I understand. Alex explained to me that you guys are like the kind I am used to and that you like to police yourselves. I'm five-by-five with that. Look, I'm just here under orders from the head Watcher. He was worried about Tara and Dawn, so he called me to check up on them. As long as you guys don't harm them or me, then I have nothing against you guys," she said, amazing herself at how honest and sincere her words were. She wasn't faking playing nice. While she got the willies from Xander, there was something telling her to trust him and those around him. It was almost as if that something was not from this world. A Guiding Hand, maybe? A Spirit Guide in the form of B or Red?

"We found four Brujah at the warehouse and they were talking about a boss. I assume that they were talking about Cameron," Alex glowered. He really hated the Brujah Primogen. It was more than just the traditional Gangrel-Brujah conflict that was making him feel this way. Deep down, he knew that Cameron was behind it all.

"Do you have any proof that Cameron is behind this? Something that is solid and concrete, beyond your suspicions?" Luna inquired.

Alex desperately wanted to lie and say yes, but he knew that Luna would see through the bald lie. "No," he bit out, hating himself for being honest about this.

"I can't touch Cameron without proof that he his behind this mess. I know he's power hungry and would love to destroy me and take my place as Prince, but the rules forbid me to go after him unless there is proof that he's up to something," he explained to Alex, knowing that the Gangrel wouldn't accept a simple no as a response. He would require a fuller explanation. "Get me proof that he's behind this."

"Well, if it helps I brought in one of the Brujah from the warehouse. He's one of Cameron's, I've seen him around before," Alex shrugged then looked at his watch. "I have to go and pick up the kid and I have parent duty tonight at her school."

Luna's face softened just a tad. "How is Alexia?" he asked.

"She's fine, thank you for asking. If you need me for anything more, give me a call," he said in his most respectful tone and hauled Faith out of the study once Luna gave them his leave, with Tara and Dawn trailing behind.

Once out in the hall, Faith looked at Alex in disbelief. "That guy, as hot as he is, just set my weird-o-meter off big time."

Alex gave her a wolf-ish grin. "He ain't the Prince of the city due to his wit and luck. Luna will do whatever is necessary to preserve the peace and the Masquerade."

Faith gave him a wry grin. "And so would you," she observed. "Well, Boy-Toy, you sure aren't the bumbling Zeppo you were back in Sunnyhell."

"Thanks Faith. That makes me feel so much better about by childhood," Alex shot back just as Cash came down the hall towards them, carrying a shirt and a dark green wine bottle.

"Thanks," Alex said and quickly pulled off his own shirt that was liberally coated in his own blood and quickly changed into the new one. He then took the bottle and quickly drained it of its contents, feeling the warm, rushing sensation that came with feeding.

"So what now?" Faith asked, a bit of her nice personality falling away, all business and abruptness coming back with a rush. "Isn't it a bit early for the alcohol?"

Alex looked at her blandly. "Who said I was drinking alcohol? I have to pick up Alexia from school in a few," he said.

"Oh my God," Faith breathed, realizing that what he was drinking wasn't wine.

The Gangrel shrugged.

Cash smiled. "We are going to have a talk with Foley. If we learn anything, I'll call Alex and go from there."

"Shouldn't we be kicking down doors or something?" Dawn asked feeling a bit frustrated.

"Kick down whose door and risk a clan war that will spiral out of control?" Cash asked, rolling his eyes at the human's naïve-ness.

"If who ever took the amulet is able to use it, then your little clan war won't matter much because we'll all end up dead," Faith argued.

"I agree," Cash said. "However, if a clan war doesn't occur and we go around violating the rules within the Masquerade, then a war will happen and then the Sabbat will see it as a sign and move to take over the city. I'll be damned before the fucking Sabbat controls everything. I'll call you if we get anything from Foley."

He walked the others to the door. As the others left the mansion, Cash grabbed a hold of Alex and pulled him back.

"I know that you have some left over loyalties to your friends from Sunnydale, but don't forget for one second that you have a responsibility to the Kindred. Also, I do not want that Witch-hunter out loose in the city. You are to watch her constantly," Cash ordered his childe.

Now was not the time for a smart-ass comment, Alex noted. "I know."

"Good. Now don't fuck up again and make me regret Embracing you," Cash grinned and good-naturedly shoved the younger Gangrel out the door. "And tell Alexia that she'll see her favorite uncle soon."

* * *

A/N: What do you think? Crap or not? Let me know, though I won't be surprised or hurt if you think its crap. I really hated this chapter with a passion and am glad that it's over with. I think my 'muse' went on vacation and forgot to tell me.

Again, I want to thank you for taking the time to read and review (hint, hint). It is appreciated as always. Also, thank you to those that have helped me with the details concerning VtM. Believe me, I have been reading and re-reading the info and my head is still swimming.

Cheers!


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and violence

* * *

They drove over to St. Monica's school to pick up Alexia, who came running out of the building, dragging her bright pink Barbie book back behind her.

Tara and Dawn moved over so the child could climb into the SUV.

"Daddy! Guess what we did today? We read a really cool story about a grouchy ladybug and then we made ladybugs and counted the number of spots on them and then the teacher hung them up on the bulletin board for everyone to see then we went to music and learned a really cool song about five monkeys jumping on the bed and then we went to lunch and then the playground and then we took a nap and I took mine next to Sara Rice who had a new puppy," she rattled off at a rate that would have boggled even Willow.

All of the adults blinked for a bit.

"Damn, she really sounded like Willow just then," Faith commented from the front seat. "Sorry Tara," she amended when she realized that what she said was a sensitive topic.

"Ummm! You said a bad word! Daddy and Mom said saying bad words isn't nice. They won't even let me say crap," Alexia said and pointed at Faith. "Who are you?"

"Sorry kid. I guess I'll have to watch my mouth. I'm Faith. I knew your dad back in high school – well, he was in high school and I hung out there a lot."

Alexia looked at her father expectantly, wanting to ask the important question but knew better than to ask it out loud in front of strangers.

Alex smiled at his daughter. "No, she's not like your mom and me. Faith is human and she knows about us. Now put your seat belt on so we can get going and don't say crap."

"Oh," the little girl said and struggled with the belt for a second before snapping it into place. "Did you remember about tonight? Mrs. Bennett gave us all a note to give to you to remind you about Parent night. She said it was important that you and Mom go. Who's going to stay with me when you go? Larry or can I go over to Mr. Luna's to see Uncle Cash?"

Uh?

"How about we stay with you tonight?" Tara asked her, smiling at Alexia gently.

"You're strangers," Alexia said, becoming shy all of the sudden.

"Lexi," Alex admonished his daughter. "Tara, Dawn, and Faith have known you since you were a baby."

He then spoke to the women, never taking his eyes off the road. "You don't have to watch her. My friend Larry was going to watch her."

Dawn spoke up. "We're already there and it's not like we have big plans for tonight."

"Thanks," he said.

The drive back to Alex's home was uneventful.

Once there, the women hung out while Alexia brought out her coloring books and crayons. She insisted that the others help her color and the women could not say no. Alex in the meantime, busied himself in the kitchen, preparing dinner for the humans and mentally preparing himself for Emily to return home and find a slayer in her house.

By five o'clock, dinner was ready and Emily walked in through the front door. She was wearing a pair of dirty jeans and an old concert t-shirt that had mud stains on it. It had been a long day at the Conservatory and she was really looking forward to a long hot shower, preferably one with Alex joining her.

The Gangrel took one look at the women sitting in the living room, zeroing in Faith's unfamiliar form. She looked over at Alex, an eyebrow arched, indicating that an important question was on her mind.

Alex came out of the kitchen, a towel slung over his shoulder. "Emily, this is Faith. Faith, this is Emily," he introduced the two women to each other.

"Hi," Faith said, giving Emily her most winning smile.

Emily gave her a frosty smile then turned on her partner. "Alex, didn't you once know a girl named Faith that was a vampire slayer?"

"That would be Faith," Alex said, unease in his voice as he slowly backed up.

Literally in a flash, Emily was by his side and grabbed hold of his ear and hauled him out of the room, out onto their backyard deck. Since it only takes twelve pounds of pressure to rip someone's ear off, Alex wisely didn't struggle and went where she wanted him.

As he was leaving, he tossed the spoon and towel towards Tara and yelled that the spaghetti sauce needed stirring.

All three women looked at each other with no small amount of trepidation.

Alexia smiled as she continued to color. "Daddy is in _big_ trouble," she announced.

Once outside, Emily turned on her partner and lover, though careful to keep her voice low enough so the neighbors wouldn't hear her words. "Are you out of your fucking mind? You let a Slayer into our home? Does Cash and Luna even know that she's in the city? Why the fuck is she in our house? Couldn't she get a hotel, sleep on the beach, or something? Do I even have to remind you that you are Kindred?"

The tirade went on for a bit longer and Alex sat there on one of the Adirondack chairs he had build the year before taking it.

Eventually, Emily ran out of words.

Once this happened, he took a deep breath, mentally crossed himself, and explained himself. "Em, I know you're not happy," at this she snorted at his understatement. "Faith seems to be okay with things and yes, Luna and Cash know about her being in the city. She was brought in by the Watcher's Council to make sure Tara and Dawn were okay and to help find the amulet. I've been ordered by Luna to watch her like hawk."

"Does that include letting her into our home? She kills vampires for a living. Have you forgotten what we are considered by outsiders? What if she decides to off us in our sleep?" Emily asked her arms crossed across her chest, her deep blue eyes dark and narrowed. "Kick her the hell out."

"I can't do that to her. When I first met her, the Council let her, all of sixteen years old stay in some rat-hole flop house motel, not caring that a kid had no business being there," Alex explained.

"She's not sixteen anymore," Emily said. "If she's lasted this long as a slayer, then she should be able to find a hotel on her own that doesn't rent by the hour."

"I know, but I can't treat her how I was treated. I won't treat her like she's an inconvenience."

"But she is," Emily retorted. "She's a fucking slayer! We're Kindred. Our kinds mix like oil and water."

"We get along fine with Taylor," Alex reasoned.

"Taylor was Herd before she got made into Wonder Woman with a stake," Emily shot back. "She earned our trust a long time ago, Faith hasn't. Didn't she try to kill you back in high school?"

"Okay, yeah, she did try to kill me back then, but she was going through some bad times and had some major problems. Also, if I am to watch her, how can I watch her if I send her off to parts unknown? What if she goes out, causes some problems and gets herself killed?" Alex tried a new tactic, reason.

"Big fucking deal. She'll just be another dead slayer and you won't see me crying over it," Emily growled.

"Fuck Emily," Alex swore, pressing a hand to his forehead, feeling phantom head ache pains forming. "If she gets killed, the Watchers will send their army to the city and then we are all truly fucked. The Kindred will be outted and then will we not only have to deal with the normal clan rivalries, we will have a massive war with us on one side and the Slayers and Watchers on the other.

Emily thought that one over. "Can she be trusted?"

Alex nodded. "I honestly think so. She saw me fighting a Brujah today over in Oakland and I got shot in the process. It was a hell of an afternoon. Surprisingly, though she wasn't immediately let's-hold-hands-and sing-Kumbaya-My-Lord, she seemed to accept that we aren't like Primordials. In fact she's handled it better than what I could expect," Alex said tiredly.

"Fine," Emily said and turned and slid back the sliding glass door. She stuck her head inside and called out sweetly to Faith. "Can you come outside so we can talk for a second please?"

Faith stood up and stretched. "Only if it means I don't get killed the minute I step outside," she said and walked over to the door.

"Not for now," Emily smiled a predatory smile. "Just a quick chit-chat between us is all I want."

Faith went outside and Dawn, Tara, and Alexia all looked at each other. The next thing they all did was run to the door and pressed their ears to the curtained glass, wanting to hear what was going on outside, even though it was partially muffled by the thick fabric.

"Well, so is this my execution or are you going to welcome me into your home with open arms?" Faith tensely asked, well aware that either thing could happen.

"It depends on you," Emily said, not a trace of humor in her voice.

"Okay," Faith said. "So what's the deal? I behave nicely and don't shove any wooden stakes into your hearts while you two don't start snacking on me."

"And you threaten any of us, you will be killed instantly. I will not have a Witch-hunter threaten the lives of my family and live," Emily said with chilling calmness. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal. Of course if you try to do anything to Tara or Dawn, or even me, don't expect me to just stand there and take it. You bring it, I'll give it back just as hard," Faith replied, ever the tough one. "I haven't survived this long by being someone's doormat and I ain't about to start, even to the almighty Kindred."

Emily gave her a hard look before nodding. "It's good that there's an understanding between us."

Faith nodded, feeling a glimmer of respect growing for this woman. Very few people, or whatever Alex and Emily called themselves, had the balls to stand up to her and tell her like it is. "So how did you two crazy kids meet?" she said, switching topics without missing a beat.

Emily also grinned. "We met at a bar. One thing led to another and here we are now. The blood-sucking Brady Bunch."

Faith snorted. "Better the Brady Bunch than the Seavers from Growing Pains. That family was seriously disturbed," she said.

Emily nodded. "Yeah, could the family have been more perfect? Though I think the Tanner family from Full House was worse. The Olsen twins looked like monkey children and who in the hell has their best friend and dead sister's brother living with them? Not to mention that there is no way someone of Danny Tanner's economic bracket could afford a house that could actually house three adults and three children like that, plus at the end another adult and two more children."

"No joke," Faith agreed with her. "And I totally agree with you about those creepy Olsen twins. They are evil monkey children."

Alex looked between the two of them in amazement. Not even five minutes ago Emily had been about to castrate him over Faith being in their home and now they were ripping apart 80s and 90s sitcoms.

"Did I just enter the Twilight Zone and you guys forgot to tell me about it?" Alex asked.

"Can't two gals bond without a man interrupting things?" Emily asked with a smirk on her face. "Don't worry too much. I'll make you pay later." With that, both women went back into the house, leaving him to imagine the worst.

Crap.

_XanderXanderXander_

Later that night, after a dinner without the two Gangrel who both said that they just weren't in the mood to eat, the women hung out with Alexia while Alex and Emily got ready for their night at Alexia's school.

"I am not wearing a tie! I don't even own one!" Alex yelled at Emily who was telling him to wear something nice.

"I never said you had to wear a tie! Find a shirt that will cover up the tats and one that isn't ripped!" she shouted back at him from the bathroom.

"Goddamn it," he grumbled and dug into the back of the closet to find the one semi-dress shirt that he owned. "If I was worried about fashion I would have joined the Toreador clan."

"I heard that!" she yelled and came out of the bathroom, wearing a simple black skirt and light blue blouse. Her hair was gathered back at the nape of her neck and tied back into a simple pony tail. The effect helped to make her look a bit older than what she normally appeared as. "I so could see you spending eternity writing poetry and music," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Alex held up a blue and white striped button-down shirt and a pair of khakis. "Will this work, oh-fashion queen?" he asked.

"Fine," she said. "It will add some years on to you. You know eventually, clothes aren't always going to cut it for us."

"Yeah, I've been working on a couple of spells that would be able to temporarily make us look older. I don't want to use it unless we have to. I hate having to manipulate people's minds, it's such a violation, plus I could always end up screwing it up and hurting them in the process," he explained. Always, in the back of his mind, was the fear that he would be come so comfortable with magic that he would resort to it first and become addicted to it like Willow had become.

He finished getting dressed and by the time he joined everyone in the living room, it was time to go.

Emily had given Tara a list of important phone numbers that included Alexia's doctor, Poison Control, their cell phone numbers, and Larry and Reed's phone numbers.

"Make sure you find my ladybug on the bulletin board," Alexia said, hugging her father.

"I will and you be good. Mind Tara, Dawn, and Faith," he told his daughter. "We'll be back in about an hour or two. Call us if anything comes up. There are wards on all of the doors and windows, preventing anyone from getting in that aren't invited. Kindred don't need to be invited, so this is a stop-gap measure. Don't let anyone in. Even if Alexia recognizes them, there are clans that can shift their shape, disguising themselves as someone else."

Tara and the others nodded, understanding the need for security.

"Thanks for watching her and we'll be back soon," Emily said and soon left, with Alex in tow.

_XanderXanderXander_

They spent the next two hours wandering the halls of St. Monica's School, meeting Alexia's teachers, the principal, librarian, and even the custodian. Mrs. Bennett, Alexia's primary teacher, was a woman in her upper thirties, and had a vague resemblance to Madeline Khan. Mrs. Bennett was a nice enough lady and praised Lexi's academic potential and social skills. They found the ladybug that their child had gushed over and got to see other examples of the girl's work.

As they were walking through the cheerful halls, moving from classroom to classroom, they couldn't help overhear a couple of the staff commenting on how young the parents of Alexia Harris looked. Emily glanced over at Alex and eyeballed him, silently saying: _I told you so_.

Finally, they had seen everything there was to see and talked to everyone they were supposed to (not to mention signing up to help with holiday parties and the up coming school carnival).

Afterwards, they went out hunting, knowing that because of their lifestyle – being a parent to a human child and having human guests, their ability to hunt was sometimes limited. Therefore, since they had some time to kill before they were expected back, they enjoyed their little bit of freedom.

Once they were done, they headed back to the house and found that, to their surprise, everything was calm. Alexia was already in bed and the women were hanging out in the living room, watching the television.

Alex and Emily went into their bedroom and changed out of their "respectable" clothing.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow?" Dawn asked once the others had joined them in the front room.

"Em has work and I have to go in to the shop for a little bit. Also, our next move will depend on what Luna learns from Foley," Alex said easily.

"You work? Like as in a job?" Faith asked, and incredulous look on her face.

"What? Of course we work," Alex replied, a bit confused. "How do you think we can afford a house and send Lexi to a private school, stealing wallets and pocket change?"

"No, it's just, that, I don't know," the dark slayer said. "I just never thought a vampire would hold down a nine-to-five job."

Emily rolled her eyes. "We prefer the term Kindred thank you."

Alex grinned. "Em works at the Conservatory and I work in construction. Other than the Kindred stuff, we lead pretty normal lives."

"What about the demon killing thing? Hellmouth and slayer issues aside, that's not a normal, everyday thing," Dawn piped.

Alex shrugged and sank down on to the couch. "The both of us are enforcers for the Prince. We don't do it as much as we did before Lexi came to live with us, but we have our moments."

They chatted for awhile longer before someone brought up sleeping arrangements. After much arguing, Dawn settled it by announcing that Tara would take her bed, while Faith and she would sleep out in the living room, therefore allowing Alex and Emily to sleep in their own bed. Alex put up a token resistance, but was secretly glad that they were back in their bedroom. While he might trust Faith, he didn't like the idea of a Slayer being able to get that close to him when he was at his most vulnerable. He trusted her, but only to a point. He wasn't a Pollyanna fool.

Later he stepped out side to get some fresh air. Emily had gone to bed and he was still a bit restless. Alex stood there for a little while before the door quietly opened and closed gently, interrupting his peace and quiet. Without even turning, easily sensing who it was, he spoke. "What's up Faith?"

"You said that we would talk later and this is later," she retorted, her tone a bit defiant, the cool wind off the ocean whipping her hair around her face.

"You're right," Alex replied and turned. He sat down on one of the chairs and gestured towards the empty one across from him. When she didn't move, he said, "I don't bite, well not too much."

Faith snorted. "Oh you're the hilarious one. Is that a power you inherited along with the glowing eyes and the pointy teeth?"

Alex smiled in the dark. "Nope, I was born with that super power. Funny Man was my super-name and it came complete with a cape and spandex."

"So," Faith said, leaving the rest of her sentence open.

"So," Alex agreed. "Got any questions?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Christ up in heaven X! You are a fucking vampire, no matter what you call yourselves. You may have you secrete society and rules, but in the end, you are still a blood sucker."

Alex shrugged. Faith was correct after all.

"Why did you try to kill me back in high school? All I was trying to do is reach out, but you fucking tried to strangle me," Alex asked abruptly.

Faith shrugged. "I was fucked up X. If it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" he shot back, a bit irritated.

"No, but it is the truth," she said quietly. "So don't take it personally."

"I tend to take it very personally when someone I was trying to help tries to off me. The others were all for being harsh and taking action against you because of Finch and the Mayor, but I told them that maybe I could reason with you, that you just needed help."

"You weren't all about helping me when Buffy stuck a knife in me to help her boyfriend," Faith accused him.

"Yeah? So what?"

"You let her try to kill me, a human, to save a vampire. You lied to her to get her to send Angel to hell when he lost his soul. Why the change of heart," she said.

"At the time, Angel was the lesser of two evils. While I wouldn't have cried any tears over Dead Boy's demise, we needed his help, with me being key guy of course, at graduation," Alex explained, knowing how cold he sounded, but refusing to soften the truth. "Speaking for my graduating class, your death would have been preferable over us getting eaten by a high demon that went by the title of Mayor of Sunnydale. Sorry sister, you made that bed and then you had to lie in it."

"So would you sacrifice me today if you had to?" she asked.

"I pushed you out of the way and saved you from getting shot by an AK-74 didn't I?"

Faith shrugged. "Yeah, but if it came down to it would you chose me over another member of your society, excluding Emily and Alexia of course. I wouldn't expect you to choose me over your wife and kid."

Alex sighed, knowing that if he lied to her, she would see right through it and it would greatly insulting towards her. "Probably not," he admitted.

Faith grunted in acknowledgement of his words. She didn't blame him for answering the way he had. First off, she had asked; secondly, he wasn't human anymore. His loyalties had to have shifted to his own people.

"If it makes you feel any better," Alex said quietly, "I'd choose you over a Hellmouth vampire any day."

"Thanks a lot," she retorted. "It's nice to know I rank above a demon."

They sat there for a bit longer, neither of them saying anything, just enjoying the silence. It was only broken when Tara came outside and told Alex that Giles was on the phone and wanted to talk to him.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know.

I want to say thank you to everyone for their encouragement with the previous chapter. It helped me to figure out what was wrong and somewhat fixed it with this chapter. I really needed it – thank you!

Finally, I am not 100 percent sure that it takes 12psi to rip someone's ear completely off. I have found several figures that range from 3psi to 30psi. I found 12psi a couple of times, so I went with that. If there is anyone who would like to find out for themselves, grab hold of one of your ears and don't stop pulling until it comes completely off. Then take a picture of it and send it to me so I can get a good laugh that someone would ever take me seriously. You also might want to take a quick trip to the emergency room and explain it to them what you just did.

Cheers!


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and violence

* * *

"Why?" Alex asked, looking at Tara.

Tara shrugged her shoulders and held the receiver to her chest to muffle their conversation. "I don't know. He yelled at me for ten minutes straight for messing with his memory then told me to put you on."

"Oh goodie," Alex grimaced and took the phone from the witch. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he spoke as clearly and calmly as he could. "Hey there G-man! How you doing?"

"Do not call me by that infernal nickname Xander," was Giles' automatic reply.

In his mind, Alex could see the British man absently cleaning his glasses.

"What can I do for you Giles?" Alex asked, his voice becoming serious.

"I would like to know what you are up to Harris," Giles barked out. Ripper was definitely in play.

Alex was not willing to give anything away just yet. He wanted to know what the Head Watcher knew. "I am sorry Giles, but you will have to be more specific that that."

"You bloody-well know what I am talking about. I know you are connected to a group of vampires that call themselves Kindred," Ripper hissed.

"What's a _kindred_?" Alex asked, feigning ignorance. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Bullshit! You know _exactly_ what I am talking about! You are tied to them and are now placing Dawn and Tara in harms way. I can't believe that even you would be so stupid as to place them in danger - especially after all they have been through."

Alex snorted. "You're one to talk Giles. You're the one who sent Buffy and the others after that stupid amulet. You should have done your research and found a better way to locate the damn thing. Maybe if you had, and had been able to send in your teenage army, Buffy and Willow would still be alive and I'd be able to continue to live in peace."

Giles, not one to take Xander's cheek, fired back. "And maybe if you ever thought about how dangerous it is to associate with those killers, I wouldn't be forced to send in my _teenage army_, as you put it, now. I won't have you muck everything up and put them in any more danger."

Alex sucked in a sharp breath. "Tell me that you didn't send in an army of Slayers," he begged the Watcher.

On the other end of the line, on the other side of the planet, understanding dawned in Giles' mind. "You're one of them, aren't you? You aren't a pet to them, you're a vampire!"

"Have you done any research as to what the Kindred are?" Alex asked coldly, abandoning any pretense that he didn't know what Giles was talking about. "The Kindred are not demon vampires. We do not like to draw attention to ourselves and prefer to remain hidden."

"I can't believe this! I can't believe I let the girls give you your daughter."

"Alexia is fine," Alex said, knowing what the human was going to ask next. "What, you think I ate my own kid? Are you out of your fucking mind? She's my baby for Christ's sake! I have a soul Giles. What did your books tell you about us?"

"There wasn't much," Giles admitted his tone slipping back into scholar-mode. "They said that Kindred originated from Cain, that there are different types of Kindred, and that you purposefully hid yourselves from humanity centuries ago. However, a vampire is still a vampire."

"That's good," Alex said in a sour tone. "That's really _fucking_ original! Way to stick to the party line there Giles."

"How do I know that you have a soul? How do I know you aren't sticking to your own party line?"

"You don't," Alex said coldly. "I will tell you, for old time's sake that you had better call off your Slayer army. Do not send them to San Francisco or you will spark a war that you are ill-equipped to fight. We are all around you and are not above killing every Watcher and Slayer there is to protect ourselves and our secrets. I will not allow you to put others in danger, especially my daughter, just because you don't like something that is different."

"You wouldn't dare," Giles snapped at Alex, but was cut off.

"No, don't you dare! You will start a war that is completely unnecessary! We don't want to have anything to do with Slayers and we police ourselves. Tara and Dawn came to me because the amulet was traced to San Francisco. Now, they know about me. If they hadn't, I am sure that they would have gotten themselves killed while they were looking for the damn thing. Faith is here also, helping them to track down the amulet."

"How do I know you aren't setting them up?"

"I'm not. I will repeat myself, if you don't call off your attack dogs, there will be a war."

"San Francisco is a long ways away Xander," Giles said snidely.

Alex laughed callously at that. "What makes you think that there aren't any members of the Kindred in Italy? Like I said, we're all around you. Now, I will give you back to Tara. Hell, you can talk to Faith if you want, I don't care, but don't you dare do anything stupid. I would really hate to have to do something towards you Giles. You had always been someone I looked up to back in high school. Hell, you were a better father-figure than my own father. Please don't ruin that happy memory for me. Here's Tara," he snarled and thrust the phone back at the pale-faced witch.

Alex threw himself on the couch, sprawled out, pissed, watching and listening to his end of the conversation between the witch and Giles.

Tara spent at least a half and hour on the phone with the Watcher, arguing back and forth. Finally, she put Faith on the phone to get her to back her up.

Faith told Giles that while Xander was most definitely a part of the Kindred society, he had saved her life earlier her day and had gotten shot for his efforts. Working together, the convinced Giles that sending in more Slayers was not the answer. They were working with the Prince of the city to find the amulet, which the Prince wanted found and destroyed as much as they did.

In the end, Giles agreed to stand down for the time being. However, he did want to speak to Xander again.

"This had better not be running up my phone bill Giles," Alex snarked.

"Tara I am sure was using the phone card I gave her," Giles said wearily. "Nothing had better happen to them Xander. I want them protected at all costs."

"Giles, you know I can't promise that. This amulet is a threat to everyone – you, me, Dawn, Tara, your precious Slayers, my daughter. It has to be found and destroyed. There are some really vicious people that want it and will do everything in their power to keep and use it," Alex said, being honest.

"They have been through enough already," Giles said.

"I know! You don't have to tell me that! However, they are big girls and they understand the risks. I promise I won't put them in any unnecessary danger, but this is really bad."

"Then wouldn't it make sense to send in some backup? I have a team of experienced Slayers ready to go," Giles shot back.

"Sure, if you want them killed. We don't want their kind here in our city," he retorted. "They will be killed the minute they enter the city. Sending them now would sign their death certificates.

"They're Slayers, not your average humans," Giles said, causing Alex to mentally envision him pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And Kindred are stronger than Slayers. Your witch-hunters will be killed and their deaths will be on your head because I warned you not to, not to mention that your actions will be taken as a sign of war. There will be retaliation and a massive body count. I will tell you that if you don't hear from Tara, Dawn, or Faith by next Wednesday, send all of the Slayers you can because we'll all be dead by then and it won't matter. Give us a chance Giles," Alex begged the Watcher, hoping that the human would agree to this because he did not want to have to fight an unnecessary war and kill a bunch of girls who's sin had been being Called by a bunch of desperate twits. "Also, you cannot share any of this knowledge with anyone. If you do, you will be putting others in danger. You haven't told anyone have you?"

Giles was silent for several long seconds, weighing his options. "No, I haven't told anyone yet. There didn't seem much of a point at the time. However, if something were to happen to me, don't doubt that I have a way to make sure the rest of the Council will find out about this."

"Don't even threaten me Giles. If things go pear-shaped, and I don't doubt that they will, and others find out that you've told others about us, they will be killed. Also, I am sure as punishment for me, they'll make me come and kill you if they don't kill me first. I really don't want to do that. It was bad enough that I had to kill Jesse back in high school; I don't want to have to go through that again."

"I want the girls to call every day and I want Taylor the local Slayer in on this. Does she even know about you and _your kind_?"

"She knows about us. Taylor is in the hospital. Someone attacked her, killed her roommate and nearly killed her. The people that want the amulet were behind the attack. Her attackers will be dealt with. Also, Faith is here. She is the most experienced Slayer there is. Let us handle this Giles. Please," he asked.

"Fine." _Blood sucking prick_, Giles thought.

"Thank you." _Fuck head_, he added silently.

With that, both parties hung up, neither one of them happy about things, but there was nothing they could do at this point.

Giles, for his part, leafed through the large tome that was sitting on his desk. It was several hundred years old and contained a few passages that talked about the Kindred and their history. He could only pray that Xander Harris wasn't feeding him a whole lot of crap.

Alex, for his part, the minute he got off the phone, stepped outside and called Luna's home and filled in Sonny (he was the only one available) about the Watcher's knowledge of the Kindred and the staved-off plan to send in an army of Slayers.

He knew that by telling Luna, via Sonny, he was putting Giles in danger, but he had an obligation to report any threat to the Masquerade. It sucked, but being Kindred had changed his outlook on a few things. His loyalty belonged to the Gangrel, the Masquerade, Cash, and the Prince. While he did not revel in telling Sonny about this possible threat, he knew that it had to be done.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know. I mean really people – who do I have to sleep with to see a review sitting in my inbox? Oh – that sounded bad. Good thing my husband isn't reading this…how about cookies? I make really awesome chocolate chip cookies! Seriously, I'm not kind of person.

Thanks to everyone for reading my crap. I do appreciate it. And if you did happen to leave a review (you know who you are), a double thank you to you.

Cheers!


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and violence

* * *

The next two days turned up jackshit. They did everything they could to locate the amulet. They tried scrying for it, invoking deities, and even did a search on Google Earth (while not at all helpful, they did get a bizarre look at a nudist camp located in Kansas). Nothing they did allowed them to find even a hint of where the damn amulet could be.

To make it even more frustrating, Daedelus, despite all of his knowledge of the obscure and esoteric, could not trace the mystic energies that they all knew the thing was giving off. Daedelus postulated that the amulet was probably stored in some sort of container that was designed to keep the item untraceable – a magical trace-buster.

Faith had actually asked if they could come up with a trace-buster buster.

It was all Alex could do but groan at _The Big Hit_ reference.

Daedelus just looked at the Slayer with more than just a little confusion.

Finally, Sunday afternoon rolled around. Alexia had been badgering her father all morning to go to the beach. The day promised to warm and sunny, therefore a trip across the street to the beach was necessary. Emily had to go into work that day, so it was just Alex, Alexia, and the others hanging around the house.

Alex _really_ envied Emily's ability to escape. He didn't blame her, but he sure as all hell envied her. He was in fact praying that someone, somewhere, had a sudden need for cabinets and a brand new closet. He would have happily built them both for anyone, even someone that couldn't afford to pay for the work. Speaking of which, he did have a project scheduled for the next week with Habitat for Humanity and had to go over the plans with the construction foreman soon.

"You're going to the beach? Now? Can I remind you that we only have until Tuesday to find the amulet before everything goes to hell in a proverbial hand basket?" Dawn asked, incredulous that Xander would put having fun before their task.

Alex looked at her with exasperation. "What else can I do Dawn? Tara is in deep trance- mode, searching for the amulet. Daedelus is hitting up every underworld contact that he can find. We've got people scouring the city looking for the damn thing. What else can I do?"

"But shouldn't we be out looking for it ourselves?" Dawn shot back.

"We could drive around the city all day and I still wouldn't know what I am looking for. I've never been close to the thing; I don't know what it feels like. Also, if it is magically concealed, I could be standing next to it and not even know it. Also, hello, that's what we've been doing ever since that fiasco in Oakland," Alex said, exasperated. "They've gone to ground."

"That doesn't mean we should be taking it easy," Dawn said, throwing her hands up in the air to emphasize how frustrated she felt.

"Dawn, I have a daughter. She is my heart and soul. I am only going to get one chance to be a father and I cannot afford to screw it up. I haven't been able to spend much time with her because of this amulet crap. I'm sorry, but for now you are going to have to deal with it. Also, if something comes up, if Tara, or Daedelus, Luna, Cash, or even the Pope wants to get a hold of me, they can call me on my cell phone and I am only going to be across the street at the beach. It's not like I'm going half-way across the country," Alex said, trying to keep a lid on his temper. He did not want to rip Dawn a new one, but his patience was wearing thin. Being around all these humans, with the exception of his daughter, was grating on him, hounding at his Kindred instincts. As much as he loved Dawn, she was human and not his daughter.

"Are we going Daddy?" Alexia called, standing by the door with her swimsuit on, beach towel in hand.

"Give me a second baby," Alex sighed. "You are more than welcome to join us," he offered.

"No thank you," Dawn said and threw her self onto the couch.

Faith cleared her throat. "Is that offer open to everyone?"

_Fuck me sideways with a chainsaw and a jar of peanut butter._

Pasting a smile on his face, hiding his desire to hang himself in his closet, he replied. "Sure, why not? More the merrier is what they say."

"Good thing I thought to bring my string bikini," she said and grinned. She grabbed a scrap of black cloth out of her duffle bag and as she walked to the bathroom, she swung her hips suggestively.

"Spare me the drama Faith," Alex muttered, glaring at the Slayer's retreating back with narrowed eyes.

Faith turned to look back and gave him a _look_.

"You aren't my type human!" Alex yelled, exasperated with her.

Faith just laughed. "No shi," she caught herself, remembering that there was a kid around, "kidding. Emily said I could give you a hard time this morning before she left. She told me that Alexia would want to go to the beach today and said to give you some grief. She's pretty cool for someone in the fang club. Also, just so you know, I _am_ everyone's type." With that, Faith went back to her bag, grabbed a pair of shorts and ran back to the bathroom to quickly change.

Alex also retreated to his bedroom and quickly changed into his baggy swim-shorts and an old t-shirt. Knowing that they was going to be out in the bright sun, he quickly found sunscreen for Alexia, their portable beach umbrella (so he could occasionally get out of the sun), and a small cooler of water and snacks for the munchkin.

Once they were ready, Alex noted that while Faith did have on the promised bikini she also had on a pair of shorts – while he might be a member of the undead club, he didn't lack male sensibilities, he looked over at Dawn. "If anything comes up, if Tara finds anything or someone calls, have them call me on my cell."

"Fine," Dawn said, clearly not happy with Alex taking a break from the good fight.

With that, Alex, Faith, and Alexia left the house. They crossed the wide street, actually a highway, and hit the beach which was packed with people taking advantage of the warm fall day.

When they finally set up the umbrella and got Alexia coated in sunblock, the small girl took off towards the ebbing and flowing waters of the Pacific Ocean, with her ever-patient father trailing behind her, making sure that she stayed out of trouble.

Faith, having stopped giving Alex a headache, stretched out on her towel, slathered herself with oil, and was determined to enjoy this free moment. As she was lying there on her stomach, watching Alex and his daughter play in the surf, she observed how odd it was to see a vampire (while he might use another name for his kind, he was in the end a blood sucker) out in the daytime, at the beach, playing with his daughter.

Gone were the goofy clothes, the carefree attitude, and the overriding geek personality. While he still used sarcasm as a defense and would still occasionally let his nerd-side leak out a bit (you could take the comic books away from the man, but you couldn't remove the encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel and DC universes out of his brain), he wasn't the same guy she remembered from the not-so-good old days.

This guy, Alex, was dangerous. He was a killer. In fact he didn't try to hide that bit of information and openly admitted to it. He was an enforcer for the guy that ran the city, used guns to help him solve problems, had the ability to wield some really wicked magic, and hung out with some decidedly odd people, one of whom made Lord Voldemart look down right cuddly.

What she appreciated was his honesty about it. While he hadn't been all that forth coming from the beginning, he didn't try to ply her with a coating of bull shit that others had in the past. He had been honest with her, maybe not in some of the details, but with his intent and his feelings towards her. While he might be a leech, he was at least and honest leech and that counted for something in her book.

She laid there in the sand, soaking up the sun, feeling a bit drowsy. Just as she was drifting away, listening to the sound of the ocean washing up on the shore and the shouts of other sun worshipers and children playing, she felt a huge lump of something grainy and wet being dumped on her back.

Looking up, she squinted and saw a tiny figure with long, wet brown hair and wearing a bright pink swimsuit, standing there with an empty bucket and a big grin on her face.

"You know kid, the last person who did that I buried them in the sand up to their neck and let the crabs nibble on their ears," Faith mock glared at the pipsqueak.

"You have to catch me first," Alexia squealed and ran off.

Faith, after first making sure the top to her swimsuit was in place, jumped up and ran after the girl who had taken refuge behind her father.

"Hand over the girl and no one has to get hurt," Faith growled, but with no malice behind it.

Alex sighed and looked behind him. "Sorry kiddo, you know how I don't like getting hurt." He then turned to the slayer. "She's all yours Faith," he said and stepped out of the way.

Alexia didn't have time to protest against her father's obvious disloyalty for Faith scooped her up into her arms and turned her upside down and started walking towards the water.

Alexia screeched, kicking her legs in protest. "Daddy made me do it! He said you'd like it."

"Is that so?" Faith smiled sweetly.

"Uh-huh," Alexia nodded, looking at her dad who only stood about five feet away.

Carefully Faith righted the child and put her down on her feet. "Get him," Faith stage whispered to the girl.

Together, they rushed Alex and pushed him into the cold water much to Alexia's delight.

Alex, playing along with it, went with the push and fell into the water. As he went, he grabbed a hold of Faith and tossed her into the water, careful to not do it too hard and hurt her (despite her slayer abilities, she was still human).

Alexia clearly enjoying watching her father and his friend take a dip in the chilly water laughed at them.

"Oh my God, that is cold!" Faith shrieked and ran out of the water like it was filled with sharks. She stood there, just above the water's edge, watching the two interact.

While the scene made her smile, it also caused some pain. She was a slayer, not _the_ Slayer anymore, but still a slayer and her life was filled with constant danger. Faith didn't kid herself into thinking she had a good chance at a long life. She knew that not having a mother around while growing up had hurt Robin and she didn't want history to repeat itself. It wasn't fair to the kid to not have a mom. Also, she very much doubted that she would actually make a good mother herself. Her own mom had been a total piece of crap, not someone that she would ever care to emulate. Deep down, Faith feared that she would end up being as bad of a mother as her own had been. Maybe not through abuse, but by getting herself killed and abandoning the child that way or exposing the kid to whatever danger that decided to pop up on the slayer radar screen that week.

However, looking at the way Xander, Alex, whatever he called himself, and Alexia were playing in the sand and surf, it made her long for own chance at happiness.

Alex grinned at her and grabbed a hold of Alexia and acted like he was going to toss her like a Frisbee into the water.

"No! No Daddy!" she screamed, though in the back of her mind she knew that he wouldn't do it, clinging to his arms.

"Oh you ruin all of my fun," Alex grumbled good naturedly at his kid and suddenly, though gently, plopped her into the water, butt first, careful to not let her get submerged, least he scar the kid anymore than he probably all ready had.

"Daddy!" she yelped.

He snatched her up, saving her from the wicked water, breathing in her scent, enjoying the feeling of his daughter in his arms. He knew that someday, sooner than he would like, she wouldn't want to be picked up and carried around like this. Soon she would declare herself too cool for her parents who obviously would not understand her and be dead-set (no pun intended) against her growing up. In the meantime, he stood there, not really feeling the cold water splash up against him, loving every precious second, grateful that he was granted the chance to be a father.

Eventually, Alex declared that Alexia had been out in the sun long enough and it was time to head back to the house.

"Daddy, can't we please stay here longer? Pretty please Daddy," she whined, looking up at her father, hoping that somehow he would be rendered powerless against her begging.

Alex looked down at his whining bundle of joy. "No. It's close to dinner time and I thought we could go out to eat and then swing by Luna's house for a little bit."

Hearing the magic words of _out to eat_ and _Luna's house_, Alexia was more than willing to help gather up their blankets, mini cooler, umbrella, her toys, and everything else they had brought with them (included the kitchen sink).

After making sure that they had everything, they started back up the beach towards the road, navigating their way round other families and individuals who were not read to call it a day.

Once they made it up the stairs that led from the beach to the street, Alex stood there for a second, scanning the area around him. Something seemed wrong to him, something was saying danger but he could not locate this unseen menace.

They walked down the street to the crosswalk. Alex reached down and took Alexia by the hand, and with Faith on the other side of the little girl, they hurried across the street and were waiting to cross MLK Jr. Drive.

As they stood there, Alex felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. A sense of dread filled him. Something was coming. "Mother fuckers," he growled, feeling pressure, an expectation of horrific events to come.

Time slowed down for him while the rest of the world went about its normal routine.

Coming from behind him, on the highway, there was a roar of an engine and underneath that sound, an electric hum of a lowering car door window and the sound of a gun being primed for action could be heard.

Dropping the stuff in his hands, he grabbed Alexia and Faith, pushing the slayer on top of his daughter to give her extra protection from the bullets that were sure to come. He then threw his body on top of them, careful to not crush the child at the bottom of the pile.

Looking up and back, he spied a dark blue Chevrolet Impala, complete with illegally tinted windows, accelerating towards them with at least two gun muzzles sticking out of the windows.

"Contego nos iam, tribuo nos vestri tutela" he yelled, not caring if anyone heard him, only caring about protecting Faith and Alexia.

With these words, a shield appeared around them, forming a protective bubble that defended them from the bullets that were flying all about them. As each bullet struck the shield, it flared from milky white to pale blue. Alex kept chanting, putting all of his will into the shelter he created.

People were screaming, blood was everywhere, Alex saw from behind his shield. Bodies were everywhere along the sidewalk near them. Old, young, and somewhere in between, death and destruction refused to discriminate. Adults cowered on the ground, some placing their bodies between their children and the shooters, praying that it would be enough to keep them from harm. Unfortunately a human body couldn't stop bullets coming from an AK-74. Children huddled on the ground near their fallen parents, quietly crying for them to wake up and make the badness go away.

Alex then looked up, noting the license plate numbers, committing them to memory. As the car passed him by and he saw the guns being pulled back into the depths of the car, he got an idea.

He placed one hand on the ground and mentally let go of the shield. "Incendia superum operor meus mos , natio nationis quod perussi meus hostilis," he chanted, fairly snarling the words, drawing power from mother earth, channeling it, using his will to forge a mighty weapon.

He sent out the power, driving it towards the car, forcing it to race along the ground and up into the back end of the car. What he sent was heat, immense, searing heat that once it came in contact with something combustible.

What it came in contact with was the gas tank. The car exploded into a ball of flame that shot at least twenty feet into the air. Alex, on his last metaphysical leg, did his best to yank the humans that were in a closer proximity back, further away from harm. Unfortunately, he was not able to save everyone and several people were blown back by the force of the explosion or hit with shrapnel. He could clearly see that several of the people, humans, had been killed in a most gruesome fashion.

The occupants of the car never had a chance to escape; their bodies became human shaped candle wicks, catching fire. The smell of burning flesh and hair competed with the smell of burning gas, oil, and machinery. He could hear their shrieks of unbelievable agony over the roar of the flames.

"Daddy," Alexia screamed, terrified by the deafening sounds all around her, but was not allowed to see their sources. Her view was being blocked by Faith, who was doing her best to shield the little girl from the terror.

The immediate danger had passed.

"Go," he ordered Faith, his voice barely above a whisper; the spells had taken a lot out of him. "Take Alexia and get back to the house."

"Xander," Faith begged him, not willing to leave him behind.

"I'll be behind you. Just protect Alexia. She's more important than me. I'll be the rear-guard," he said. "Go!"

With that, Faith scooped up the girl and ran in the direction of the house, using her Slayer strength and speed to its full advantage. As much as she wanted to, she refused to look behind her, checking to see if Xander was following her. She had to trust that Xander, who definitely was no longer a Zeppo, knew what he was doing.

Faith ran as if her life depended on it, which it did, and not before too long, she found herself in front of Xander's and Emily's home. She pounded up the stairs to the front door. She turned slightly, and using her shoulder, forced the front door open.

Once inside, much to the shock of Dawn and Emily, who was now back from work, she put Alexia on the couch and ran back to the door, looking for Xander, praying that he was okay.

Before she even had a chance to actually look for him, he was there in the doorway. He pushed Faith, gently, to the side and shut the door.

"Em, get the go bags. Dawn, you and Faith get your stuff together and get Tara. We're leaving," he ordered the others, his eyes glowing, giving a glimpse of his emotional state.

Emily looked at her lover and immediately went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle and handed it off to him. While he obviously he hadn't been shot, he looked drained. If she had to guess, she would have guessed that he had been using some pretty powerful magic on the spur of the moment. When that happened, it tended to leave him exhausted and weak. If the look on Faith's and Alexia's faces were anything to judge by, something terrible had happened. Also, they had heard the explosion and immediately Emily figured that Alex must have had something to do with it.

He took it with a grateful look and quickly swigged the contents down, not caring if the others saw him feeding. Once the bottle had been drained, he could feel his energies return to their normal levels, restoring him to fighting form. He licked his lips and teeth, careful to not leave any traces behind, least he unnecessarily freak out the humans.

"Let's go people," Alex ordered, breaking the spell.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button (come on people, don't make me beg) and let me know.

Translations: Contego nos iam, tribuo nos vestri tutela – Shield us, give us your protection; Incendia superum operor meus mos, natio nationis quod perussi meus hostilis - Fire of the gods do my will, race and consume my enemies. It's Latin and I hope I got the translations correct. If not, blame the web site I use for translations. My Latin is next to non-existent.

Also, yes there are nudist camps in Kansas. I have **NEVER** been to one and I only know about them because they occasionally make it into the local news when uptight locals make a stink about it. Though honestly, some of the people that have been interviewed (shown shoulders and above) have no business being naked and need to be stopped. Why can't they have a nudist camp full of people with the bodies of Beckham or Lampard? Not that I would ever go, but it would be a nice thought.

As always, thank you very much for reading my stuff. I sincerely appreciate it. Also, thank you for taking the time to drop me a review (hint, hint). It really does give me warm fuzzies to see a review sitting in my inbox. Cheers!


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and violence

* * *

Everyone hurried to gather their gear. Emily collected the three bags (one for each of them) that they always kept in case of a need to make a hasty exit while Alex, after changing his clothes, went down to their tiny garage where he kept their small armory.

The storage cabinet was secure, complete with a keypad lock and thumb print identification. There was absolutely no way Alexia or any other kid or possible enemy could get into it. It was something that they invested in the day after Alexia came into their lives. The company they bought it from said it was one of the most secure ways to store anything and prevent any tragic accidents. Punching in the numbers 857219 and pressing his thumb to the scanner, the locks quietly clicked open, allowing him to turn the handle and open the door.

Once open, the storage cabinet, for that was what it was but only with steel plating and a secure locking system, their armory was revealed. He bypassed the AR-15, the M-16, a P-90 and his much beloved shotguns and instead took out two Glock 23Cs, quickly loaded them and the spare magazines. Alex then took down a small duffle bag and placed the extra weapons in it. He also found spare mags for his .40 S & W, loaded them and found two boxes of extra rounds for the Remington he kept in the car. While there was a part of him that wanted to have as much firepower as possible, logic won out in the end. Having his entire armory in the SUV would probably draw attention from even the stupidest cop. Also, some of the bigger pieces would be impractical and could not be used from such a confined area. Besides, if there was anything extra that he would need, he was sure Luna would have it already.

Once he had everything, he went over to the SUV, placed the bag on the floor board and went around to the back. He got out the .40 he kept in the car; he took the holster and placed it on his belt. With that done, he went back upstairs to the house.

Luckily everyone was ready and he and Emily herded everyone down stairs. They placed Faith and Tara in the back, on either side of Alexia, who had been strapped down with the seatbelt. Dawn, being the smallest out of the three in the back, was forced to sit on the floor. Emily took the wheel while Alex rode shotgun.

They backed out, all of them expecting something out of the Godfather to happen: a non-descript black sedan to pull up behind them, have people jump out, and hose the car with bullets.

Emily spared a look over at Alex, who was looking pretty damn grim. "Are you ready for this?" she asked.

Alex nodded and answered without looking at her. "You drive and I make with the mojo if anyone comes after us."

"Love you," she said.

"Love you more," Alex replied, offering up a small smile.

With that, Emily gunned the engine and tore out of the driveway.

Emily drove with the precision and skill that rivaled the drivers in IRL, F1, and NASCAR combined. She took a winding, circular route though the city, careful to make sure that she didn't go fast enough to attract the unwanted attention of a traffic cop.

As they were making their way down Market, Emily and Alex noticed a car following them. It had been trailing them for too long, avoiding opportunities to pass them up and go around them. The car suddenly sped up and hit the bumper of the SUV, causing it to swerve slightly, but Emily had such a tight control over the vehicle, she was able to correct the car's movement and avoid a large scale pile up.

With the tap from behind, confirming that the car wasn't being driven by some innocent, Alex closed his eyes and concentrated. In his mind's eye he could "see" the steering wheel. With a mental pull, he yanked the wheel to the extreme right, causing the car to veer off the street and on to the sidewalk. At the same time, he pressed the accelerator down, causing the engine to race.

The car hit a parking meter, a trash can, and then the wall of a building. The front end crumpled upon impact, throwing the driver and passenger to be thrown forward, smashing their heads into the front windshield. Bricks and stucco rained down upon the car, the building shuddered with the force of the impact. People screamed and ran from the site of the accident, frightened of how close they came to their early demise.

Emily didn't spare a look behind her, trusting Alex to have taken care of the threat.

Alex opened his eyes and turned around to see his handy work, his eyes glowing amber yellow as he surveyed the wreck, satisfied that the pursuers were incapacitated.

"Do you want me to stop?" Emily asked.

Alex briefly considered the possibility of blowing the shit out of the occupants of the car, with or without the use of one of his guns. "No, there are too many witnesses," was his terse reply. There were also too many people in close proximity to the car; the collateral damage that he had already caused earlier was not something that he wanted to repeat.

Emily nodded and continued driving, keeping a look out for any more possible threats. Luckily, nothing came at them for the rest of the way.

They reached Luna's mansion and were allowed to pass through with no difficulty. Cash was outside to greet them.

Alexia bounded out of the car the minute she was released from her seatbelt and straight into the arms of Cash. "Uncle Cash," she cried. "Bad men were after us!"

The Primogen knelt down and hugged the child. "Did your daddy take care of them?" he asked the girl while looking up at his childe with no small amount of concern.

Alexia nodded. "Daddy made the car go boom and then we ran."

"Why don't you go inside? I heard that Elsa," one of the humans Luna retained as a maid, "recently made a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Your dad, mom, and I need to talk."

Alex nodded at Alexia who ran up into the house, in search of Elsa and the elusive chocolate chip cookies.

The three Gangrels turned towards the humans who had joined them at the bottom of the stairs.

"Why don't you wait for us in the house?" Alex suggested, not happy with the idea of deliberately excluding the others, but he knew that Cash did not want to have a discussion about Kindred business in front of a bunch of humans.

Dawn started to protest but Faith grabbed her, gently, by the arm and dragged her into the house.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dawn snarled. "This concerns us too you know. We have a right to be a part of this conversation."

"Chill out Dawn," Faith snapped. "Xander saved my ass today and if he and his buddies want to have a private conversation, then by God, they're going to get what they want. Also, I have a bad feeling that we are not going to want to hear half of what they are going to be saying. Besides, if there are indeed chocolate chip cookies somewhere in that house, I'm going to find them. I don't care if they are stored next to five dead and rotting bodies, I'm hungry and I want chocolate"

Once the humans had disappeared into the house, Cash turned to his childe and blood sister. "What happened? The news broke in saying that there was a shooting at the beach and a car blew up."

"There was a shooting and a car blew up," Alex deadpanned.

Cash rolled his eyes. "No shit. I wanted the specifics smart ass, not your usual crap."

Alex grinned; he couldn't help himself sometimes. "I was down at the beach with Alexia and Faith. We were coming back and some asshole decided to turn us into Swiss cheese with an AK-74. I was a bit pissed at them for doing that so I blew this shit out of their car."

"Are you sure you were the targets?"

"There were Kindred in the car. I'm sure of it," Alex said, running his hand through his dark hair, feeling the strain start to bleed off of him.

"How did you blow it up?" Cash asked a bit weary. "Damage count?"

"Heat and energy don't mix well with gas tanks. Even I remember that from my high school science class," Alex reported. "The two in the car went up like Michael Jackson's hair in a Pepsi commercial. I know that there were several people hurt and at least two are dead because of me. I tried to save them all, pull them back away from the car, but I couldn't get to two of them," Alex tried to keep his tone indifferent, tried to make it sound like since they had been human, the people who died didn't matter. His abilities in deception were not that great. Cash and Emily could see how much this was tearing the young Gangrel up inside.

"You can't save them all Alex," Cash said, his tone gentle. "I know that you would never go out of your way to hurt innocent lives. You were protecting Alexia and sometimes, unfortunately, when we are doing the right thing, bad things happen."

Emily held tightly on to her lover's hand and looked up at him with her beautiful dark blue eyes. "You saved Alexia and Faith. That is what's important here."

Alex smiled briefly at her, thanking whatever higher power that was out there that she came into his life.

"Did you get a license plate number?" Cash asked.

"California plates, four, M-A-W, nine, one, seven," Alex repeated from memory.

"Good. I'll give that to Sonny and have him trace the plates back to the owner. Hopefully that will give us more definite proof which of the Brujah is behind this," Cash said.

Alex's eyes narrowed at that. "You goddamn know as well as the rest of us that Cameron is behind this! How much more proof do we need? It was at his warehouse I got shot, I brought in a flunky of his who is too stupid to ever conceive of an idea on his own, and Cameron's been a no show since last week."

"I know that, but Luna wants hard core proof. He wants to make sure that others don't see this as him starting a clan war," Cash explained Luna's position.

Alex looked like he was about to blow. "What about that little shit I brought in? Have you guys broken him yet?"

Cash looked pissed. "For a fucking Brujah, he's pretty resilient. We thought about starving him to death, but figured that would ruin any chances of getting something worthwhile out of him. He's resisted our normal means and threats do nothing for him."

Alex began to smile slowly, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Leave it to me Boss. I'll get the info out of him."

Mentally, Cash smacked himself on the forehead. While Alex wasn't one to overly enjoy torturing someone, he was very, very good at it. Unfortunately it had a tendency to be a pretty gruesome experience.

_XanderXanderXander_

Alexia, Faith, Dawn, and Tara were sitting in the kitchen, having just been served possibly the best tasting chocolate chip cookies any of them had ever had. While they were sitting there, watching Alexia color on some paper Elsa provided for her to occupy her self with, they heard the most blood-curdling screams ever, emanate from somewhere down below their feet.

The women looked at each other, then at Elsa who merely shrugged. Apparently this was nothing new to the elderly woman. Weirdly enough, Alexia didn't seem to be overly bothered either. However, Tara, Dawn, and even Faith were a little more than unnerved by the screams.

What they could not see, thankfully for them, was the Brujah, whom had been captured the previous week down at the docks, strapped to a heavy wooden chair in the prison of light. The sunlight had been blocked out, giving the prisoner a small amount of relief, albeit temporarily. He had even been allowed a bottle of blood to help restore his mind to a state of clarity. He had hoped that this was a sign that they were going to release him. The hope that had sprung in the prisoner's heart was easily crushed when he saw who walked in through the heavy iron door behind Cash.

Alex stood there, an evil grin on his face as he shoved another wooden stake into the thigh of Lucas Foley. The Brujah screamed as the wood pierced his flesh.

"Who is the mysterious new owner of the amulet?" Alex patiently asked.

Foley only snarled, refusing to give up his information. He was determined to not be weak and break.

Alex sighed. "You know Lucas, everyone breaks eventually. Even the military recognizes this. All it takes is the right amount of pressure and pain and people will give it up. Kindred are no different. Yeah, we can take a lot more punishment than the average human, but then again, we can dish it out to the point where Abu Ghrayb will look like child's play. And do you know the best part of it all?"

Alex waited a moment for the drama, giving the Brujah flunky a chance to shake his head no. "I really enjoy it," he whispered and slammed another stake into Foley's body, this time through his shoulder, close to his heart.

"Do you feel it, the burning pain of wood in your body?" Alex asked. "You see an odd thing happened today. Someone tried to kill my little girl and since I can't exact my revenge against those assholes, since I killed them when I blew up their car, I guess it's just you and me."

"Alex, you going to use your mojo on him, 'cause I want to get my video camera and record it. It'll be a blast at the next full moon party," Cash said casually.

"Oh, that's an idea. How about I cook him from the inside out? I slowly heat up his body until he bursts into flames. Then we could put the video on YouTube. I don't think they have any real videos of actual spontaneous combustion. It would fucking rule," the younger Gangrel said, his voice cheery and light. As he was saying this, he did the same parlor trick he had shown Faith back at the university, only this time the flame was bigger and dangerously close to the Brujah's face. "Imagine something like this frying you like breakfast sausage from the inside," he snickered, enjoying the horrified look on the guy's face.

Alex knew he was close to pushing the guy over the edge, breaking him. All he needed was one last push. He closed his fist, cutting off the flame.

He ran a finger through one of rivulets of blood that was running down the Brujah's torso. Alex brought the finger up to his mouth and licked it clean. He pulled a face, obviously displeased with the taste. "You know, you don't taste any better now than when I fed off you. One would think that even fear could make a weasel like you taste a tad bit better."

"You can't feed off me. It's against the rules," Foley managed to gasp. The pain he was experiencing was even worse than he could have ever imagined. Also, his fear wasn't helping; it was making him even more aware of how dire his present situation was.

Alex looked at Cash in confusion. "Hello, I already did that earlier. Its old news and no one really cares at this point. People have bigger problems to worry about than me snacking off of you _after_ I got shot. Also, did you _not_ get the memo that the Prince sent out to all Kindred in the city?"

"What the hell are you talking about you fucking psycho-path," the Brujah said, trying for one last bit of defiance, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.

"You and your kind have broken enough rules that Luna doesn't care what I do. All he wants is peace in his city and as long as it gets to stay that way, he's letting me do my worst and you're only my first," Alex growled. "And since my little girl's life was threatened, I plan on having as much fun with it as possible. Nobody fucks with my kid.

"Now, can we stop with this needless violence? All you have to do is tell me who is behind the amulet and this insane attempt to grab power and I'll pull all seven stakes out of you. And if you don't, just to let you know because I am such a swell guy, the next two stakes," Alex held up two thin slivers of wood, "are going right into your two best friends. I'll even let you decide if you want lefty or righty to go first."

At this, Foley crumbled, telling them everything; typical guy – you threaten his nuts and he caves.

He told them that Cameron was behind the amulet's theft, the hiring of the Samedi to steal it from the church in Naples, and all of the chaos that he assumed had been occurring since he had been brought in.

"Where can we find Cameron?" Cash asked, twisting one of the stakes, letting Foley know that it wasn't over just yet.

"I don't know," he blubbered, no longer a fearsome Brujah but a broken man crying blood tears.

"Not good enough. Where can we find your Primogen?" Cash snarled, rotating the stake further in so it was even closer to his heart.

"Cameron's been moving around, he doesn't stay in the same place twice. I do know that the ceremony to fully activate the amulet is supposed to take place somewhere in Golden Gate Park. There's something about ley lines that is key to activating the damn thing. That's all I know! I'm just a grunt. He won't share much information with someone like me. Please stop with the stakes!" he screamed.

Cash and Alex shared a look. Cash nodded at Alex and together they pulled the stakes out of his body. Granted they weren't too careful about it, but the release from having them removed was a sweet sensation.

Then, before Foley could say anything further, Cash picked up a stake and drove it into the Brujah's chest, through his heart, placing him in a state of torpor. Apparently relief wasn't in the cards.

"Harsh," Alex commented, calmly looking at his sire.

Cash shrugged. "It's not like we're actually going to let him go, plus it gives Luna time to figure out what he wants done with him."

"No," Alex said, shaking his head. "I meant, harsh as in you didn't let me do it."

Cash smiled. "Next one I promise I'll let you stake him. Consider it a belated birthday present."

"Ah, Cash! You say the sweetest things," Alex said, grinning at his Elder as they calmly left the prison together.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know what you think. I'll hold my breath until you do…

Anyways, thank you for reading and if you just happened to leave a review behind, a double thank you to you. Suggestions and comments always help me out. Also, a thank you goes to Lorilei for making sure I wasn't slacking off and not writing. Her encouragement and kicks in the rear are appreciated and sometimes needed.

On a final note, I can't say for sure when my next posting will occur. The husband is coming home on leave for a few days (Yay!!!), so I want to be with him as much as possible (get your mind out of the gutter) and won't be working much on this story, if at all. I am hoping for something in the week after next, but who knows, I might get inspired and post earlier than what I am thinking. Also, don't forget, reviews are always a good way to get me to ignore real life and write (hint hint)…

Cheers!


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and violence; also, there is a really mean comment made and it is not directed at anyone nor intended to offend any actual person or group of people. I apologize in advance and my defense is that this is just a story and it fit the intentions of the situation I created.

* * *

For the rest of the evening and into the next day, Alex, his friends, and the ex-Sunnydale personnel remained busy chasing down leads. Tara and Faith went with Alex as he was chasing down leads. Dawn had gone once and that had been enough for her. Despite everything she had seen while in Sunnydale and in Rome, it bothered her too much to actually watch her old friend kill someone. 

Faith was along for the ride because she was there to make sure Tara was safe, per her promise to Giles. However, even she was starting to wish she had stayed in Cleveland with Robin.

It bothered Tara too, but unfortunately for her, she had to tag along with Alex's hunting posse since she was the only one who could identify the energies emanating from the amulet. She planned, once everything was over, was to first, find a good therapist; second, find a deserted island and live there; and third, have her brain removed so she could forget seeing a snapping turtle and a hand mixer used in such a bizarre and grotesque manner.

They went to a club where Brujah were known to hang out. At the club, surrounded by humans, with a few non-humans mixed in, Tara stood near Faith and watched in horror and fascination as Alex and his friends plowed into the crowd, armed to the teeth (though not overly obvious), acting like this was something they did all the time – which they probably did come to think of it.

Someone had thought it would be wise to get in their way and object to their anti-social ways. The drunken idiot, a Triazolam demon, complete with bluish skin, unicorn-like horn, and claws, stepped in front of Alex, intending to stop the Gangrels from proceeding any further. It never occurred to the Tiazolam that its jockey-like stature was not the most fearsome thing Alex had ever faced; alcohol can make 4'10" (including the horn) beings feel ten feet tall and bullet proof.

Instead of stopping, Alex simply picked up the demon, careful to avoid the three thrashing arms and claws, tossed him across the room, the demon smashing into the far wall and slid into a boneless blue puddle on to the floor. Once that was done, Alex and his friends continued on, trailed by the women who looked slightly alarmed, though Faith was doing her best to cover it up.

Alex, with Paul and Lonnie watching his back, strode through the crowd, eyes scanning the crowd, looking for a certain someone.

In the back of the club, trying his best to keep to the shadows created by the strobe and different colored spot lights, was Mark Poole, accountant to Cameron. Poole was somewhere in his late twenties to early thirties, with slicked back blond hair, pale green eyes, and miserly enough to steal the coins from a blind beggar's tin cup. He was also the man with plenty of answers, knowledge of holdings and properties held by Cameron that wasn't necessarily on the books as belonging to him. He was a thief, a cheat, and liar disguised as a CPA and personal financial advisor. The man had delusions of hotness; unfortunately he looked like a ferret with a case of herpes and was only able to attract women through money, not through any real personality or charm. Sluts and gold diggers were the type of female companionship he was forced to surround himself with.

Currently he was sitting in the back of the club, wearing a shirt that looked like it came from the bargain rack at Express for Men, surrounded by cheap women and expensive liquor.

Alex and his friends strode through the crowd and up to the table that held Poole and his friends.

"Ladies," Alex announced, a dangerous smile on his lips, "and I use that term loosely, you need to leave."

"We're having a fun here. Why don't you go loser," some brainless bleached blonde bimbo retorted around her martini glass. "How did they even let trash like you past the door? This is like an exclusive club."

Lonnie and Paul laughed at that one.

"When you beat the shit out of one bouncer and your buddy here," Lonnie nodded at Alex, "threatens to set the other on fire, they'll let you in, even if you don't dress like Paris Hilton's fat and slutty twin sister."

"Did he just call me fat?" the floozy yelled, outraged that some biker-trash would call her fat. Hello, the laxatives and purging helped to prevent the fatty-fat from showing up, not to mention the all of the liposuction, implants, rhinoplasti, botox, rib removal surgery, and dermal abrasion she had had done.

"Technically he didn't say you were fat, but if the shoe fits," he trailed off, smiling. "Now get the fuck out of here before I take my bad attitude out on you," Alex snarled, irritated by the harpy. There was a part of him that hated how he had just talked to her, knowing that he was being deliberately cruel, but he needed her far away from their upcoming conversation and making her mad and hate him was the best way to do it.

"Mark, are you going to sit there and let him talk to me this way?" she whined.

"Yeah Mark, are you going to sit there and let us talk to your _lady_ that way?" Alex growled.

Poole, by now, was sweating heavily. He knew exactly who Alex and the other men he was with were. While he didn't recognize the women that were standing behind them, he figured they had to be Kindred of some sort.

"You need to go," Poole said and pushed the blonde and her companions out of the booth.

"You asshole! Don't even expect me to come around after you treating me like this, you dick-less weasel!" she spit, pissed that her sugar daddy was choosing Hell's Angels over her sweet ass. With that, she and her girlfriends stomped off, glaring at Faith and Tara, making comments about trash finding more trash.

Faith couldn't help herself when she hooked her ankle around the lead girl's ankle, tripping her up, causing her to fall ungracefully on to the dance floor, dragging her girlfriends down with her.

The guys all looked at Faith who shrugged and smiled sweetly. "My bad."

"W-what can I do for you?" Poole stammered.

Alex and Lonnie slid into the booth on either side of Poole while Paul stood in front of the table, looking outwards, alert for anyone or thing.

"That's pretty harsh," Alex observed, "calling you a dick-less weasel. I'm sure weasels all over the world are now offended that you've been lumped in with them. Besides, I'm pretty sure weasels have dicks. Maybe the Discovery Channel will have a Weasel Week at some point about weasels and their dicks and then we'll know how you stack up against a rodent. Though if you could do the weasel war dance that would be really cool and did you know that weasels and their relatives are found all over the world except for in Australia and neighboring islands?"

At this point everyone was staring at him. Even Paul turned around and eyeballed his friend.

Tara blinked and shook her head. She could have sworn that for a second or two Xander was channeling Willow's babble-speaking abilities. It was weird.

But, then again, Alex "Xander" Harris was pretty damn weird in the over-all sense.

Alex shook himself. "Sorry. I'm totally addicted to the Animal Planet these days," apologized. "Back to the matter at hand, you are Cameron's accountant, well, one of them. I want to know if you know of any property that he has recently acquired that is not public information just yet."

"I-I don't know anything about that," he stuttered and refused to look at either Gangrel, clearly lying though his teeth.

"Mark, Mark, Mark, I hate it when people lie to me. Now, not to be all cliché about it, but do you have any idea who my friends and I are?"

Poole nodded, fear plastered across his face and emanating from every pore in his body.

"Do you remember what happened last year, when I got really pissed?"

Again, Poole nodded.

"Keep that in mind the next time you lie to us. We want to know if Cameron has any property that he had purchased within a few weeks. What have you Mark? Are you going to play ball or are the Gangrels going to have ourselves an appetizer at our next party?" Alex said, his voice calm and rational, making him sound even more dangerous and slightly psychotic.

"He bought a building in South San Francisco several weeks ago. It's an auto repair shop on B Street, near the elementary schools, maybe on the nine hundred block of B. I don't know for sure, but it's got a sign on it saying Ray's Auto Repair. Honestly I don't know anything beyond that. I may be Herd, but to him I'm just another human."

Alex shook his head. "No, to him you're just a blood bag with legs. Have you ever been there?"

Poole shook his head, praying to the God that he regularly denied that the Gangrels, especially the one known as Alex Harris, would go away and leave him alone. All he did was manage a portion of Cameron's finances that was all. It wasn't like he and the Brujah Primogen were actually friends.

Alex and Lonnie shared a look, each grinning madly.

"Fine, let's go," Lonnie said and hauled Poole out of the booth.

"Where are we going? I told you what you wanted to know. Why can't you just let me go?" Poole begged, knowing that his life was indeed in danger of ending.

All three Gangrels did an identical eye roll.

"If we did that, then what's to stop you from running off to your master, letting him know we're coming for him?" Alex said and pushed the weasel-man in front of him, marching him out the door of the club, noting how everyone in the place was giving them a wide berth.

Faith and Tara, each of them sharing an identical look of trepidation, followed the human and Kindred out of the bar.

Nobody noticed the figure up on the catwalk watching the events take place below on the floor.

Also, nobody really questioned as to why this was so damn easy. They were too focused on the fact that they had finally tracked down a viable source that had an in into Cameron's dealings and happenings, to fully recognize that something was not right. Maybe if Cash had been there, or if they had at least looked up at the catwalk, then maybe their next move wouldn't have been so disastrous.

_XanderXanderXander_

They drove down to the garage shop in South San Francisco. Alex, along with the others parked several blocks away from their target. Alex got out and let Faith take over. The plan was for the women to do a drive by and give Tara a chance to see if she could sense the amulet in the building. Once that was done, they would drive around the block and rejoin the group.

Faith gunned the engine, leaving Alex in the dust and praying that his vehicle would survive the five block jaunt.

In less than five minutes they were back, looking excited, yet apprehensive. They knew their news would have some pretty violent repercussions for everyone. While they didn't worry about the well-being of the people inside the building, they were worried about the people they were with, especially Xander.

Tara had been worried about how Xander was losing himself to the violence. She was worried that because of this he would lose core goodness and humanity. She feared that Xander could easily become a monster like Angelus had been. She had shared this concern with Faith earlier who was starting to agree with her.

"He's not human anymore, Tara," was all Faith could say in a form of explanation.

"It's faint, but I felt it. I don't know if it is just residual energy or if it's actually there though," Tara reported as she climbed out of the SUV.

"Either way," Cash said, for he had joined them after the others had brought in Poole, "we still go in." He busied himself, the same as the others, checking his gear, making sure he had enough ammo; his vest was in place, and whatnot. He had been around long enough to know that without proper preparation, all he would get is piss-poor performance. And goddamn it, he hadn't been chosen to be the Primogen of the Gangrel Clan by being stupid. Cash's momma hadn't raised him to be an idiot.

"Is everyone ready?" Alex asked, looking over his crew carefully. While he might be the youngest Kindred in the group, he was their leader in situations like this. The soldier memories were still helpful after all these years, along with a natural ability to lead others and to think his way out of situations. That and his mild love affair with violence helped.

However, sometimes he would be come so focused on the goal, he could miss something important, showing that even someone with as much power as he possessed wasn't perfect and still lacking the experience of a Primogen. He might have been the One Who Sees, but he was far from infallible.

Cash was the one to point out how easy it had been to bring in Poole. Despite that, they still had a job to do and a lead to check out.

Moving out, the Gangrels: Cash, Lonnie, Paul, Emily, and Alex, along with several Ventrue made their way down the street, sticking to the shadows, careful to not leave themselves out in the open as targets for any stray Brujah that might be on the lookout for a possible attack.

Tara and Faith had been left behind. Tara wasn't a fighter by nature and Faith's job was to protect Tara at all costs. The Slayer kind of resented being kept out of the fight; she knew there was logic in the way the Kindred were thinking. While she had joined Alex and the others in the warehouse over in Oakland, this was different. She didn't have much training with guns and wouldn't be able to readily tell friend from foe. They didn't want her accidentally shooting the wrong person. So instead, she and Tara were left waiting for the others while they did all of the messy work. If she was honest with herself, seeing how Alex and his friends fought from an earlier incident had left her a bit disturbed and it bothered her Slayer instincts to see someone, even if that individual had been an enemy, literally ripped to bloody shreds. Also, they were to serve as the get away drivers if things went sideways or if the cops showed up.

A few minutes later, they could clearly hear gunfire erupt down the street. The night air was disturbed by the barrage of bullets ripping through the air and flesh. People were screaming incoherently, their words incomprehensible to their ears.

While they were intently listening and waiting for the others, concentrating on the spot where they knew they were, neither woman noticed a dark figure coming up behind them until it was too late, as the cliché went.

Faith either heard something or it was a Slayer instinct that caused her to spin around and see a bat flying at her head. The weapon caught her across the face, knocking her completely out along with breaking her nose and her right cheekbone.

Tara, taken by complete surprise, was tackled from behind by another figure. The blonde witch struggled, but her human strength was no match for the being that held her close. She was picked up and tossed into the back seat of Alex's SUV. Faith was then yanked off the ground and tossed in beside her. The man climbed into the vehicle and started it up.

Another figure climbed into the passenger side and turned around. The man, rough and vicious looking pointed a gun at her. "You fucking try anything and I'll shoot you and your witch hunter. You got me?"

Tara nodded numbly, looking over at Faith, whose face looked as if it indeed had a baseball bat used on it, silently willing the other woman to wake up and kick their captors' collective asses.

They were in it deep and Tara couldn't see a way out unless Xander magically came back to the car and saved them from whatever terror they had coming at them.

Unfortunately, their miracle never came and they took off to God only knows where.

_XanderXanderXander_

Meanwhile, down at the auto repair shop, Alex and his friends were having it just as bad, if not worse, than the humans they had left behind.

It had been a set up of some sort. As they were moving down the street, careful to not be seen in their approach, they suddenly came under fire. Everyone was forced to scatter, using doorways, trashcans, mailboxes, and other cars for shelter. Unfortunately, gunfire was raining down on them from upon high on both sides of the street.

People were screaming as they were shot, the vests they wore only providing a small amount of protection at this point. The smell of blood was thick in the air. The sound of bullets ripping through flesh was appalling and only made worse by the laughter that could be heard over the gunfire. Someone was clearly enjoying the slaughter that was taking place on the street, unmindful to the suffering and agony that the once-attackers were feeling.

Glass was breaking, metal was rending as bullets hit targets other than the members of the Masquerade and ricocheted off one thing and hit another. Buildings had their windows shot out; masonry was pockmarked and turned into a fine powder. Cars had their tires blown out and their engines reduced to scrap metal as the bullets, slugs, and possibly a grenade (an already battered Volvo parked on the street suddenly blew up after something small hit it and bounced).

Alex, shot at least five times, was pinned down next to an El Camino on the driver's side, completely exposed and bleeding profusely. His body wouldn't respond and all he could do was watch his friends get shot and possibly die their final deaths.

_Think Harris_, he raged at himself. _What the fuck do I do now? We are so screwed! Thank God Faith, Dawn, and Tara aren't here for this. I hope Emily is okay. At least Alexia will be safe. Julian will take care of her. Her parents will be dead, but maybe she'll survive this. _

This last thought brought tears to his eyes. He so wanted to be there to watch her grow up, to be there to see her Christmas plays, to teach her to ride a bike without training wheels, to watch her graduate from high school and college, to blossom into the beautiful woman he knew she would become. He had so many plans and dreams for her and now he wouldn't get to see them come true. He would lose his baby girl all because some asshole with visions of grandeur had to go get him-self a tacky piece of jewelry.

"God damn you Giles! Why couldn't you have sent more back up with Buffy and stopped this bullshit back in Italy?" he growled, pissed at everything that had happened. All of this had been so damn unfair to him, Emily, Alexia, his friends, and the entire fucking world. "What in the fuck am I supposed to do now?"

It suddenly came to him. Taking a deep breath and reaching down deep, knowing that he would have to throw everything into this last ditch effort or else it would fail. He briefly prayed that there weren't any humans in any of the buildings. Granted it was late at night and this was a business area, but there was always a possibility that innocents would get caught up in his efforts to save his friends.

Feeling the cement under his unresponsive body, he mentally drew power from Mother Earth once again, letting its energies flow through him, channeling its natural magic into a mighty weapon. Warmth quickly turned to fire as the energies filled him. It was agony, allowing that much power to enter his being all at once. However, he didn't care. He had to stop their attackers by whatever means he could.

When he felt that he had topped himself off, magically speaking, he let loose.

He hit the surrounding buildings with pure, raw power, where he was pretty sure there were people shooting at him and his friends. Waves of energy slammed into the stucco and wood-framed structures. While these building might have survived countless earthquakes over the years, they had never this that close to an epicenter before. The buildings shuddered under the onslaught then suddenly as if a giant's sledge hammer had hit all six buildings at once. Suddenly the few windows that were intact blew inwards, shattering. The walls began to sag inwards, caving to the non-stop pressure from invisible forces. Mortar, brick, and stone cracked. Support columns gave way, causing ceilings and roofs to collapse.

People standing on the flat rooftops, the ones responsible for the wholesale slaughter of the Gangrel and Ventrue on the street, screamed as their footing gave way and their bodies plunged into the unknown. Several of them, on their way down, were impaled on the splintered internal wooden frames. Several were killed instantly when the wood sliced through their necks like hot knives through butter. Others were severely injured, possibly gravely, and put instantly into states of torpor. Even the few that escaped injury from the collapsing roofs were crushed when the walls of the ruined businesses caved in on top of them.

All of this took place in seconds, death and destruction wrought by one Alexander Harris who had spent himself. His personal store of magic and energy drained from the effort of knocking down several businesses at once had wiped him out. Not only that, he was also bleeding everywhere; he was lying in a huge puddle of his own blood once again. He didn't have enough energy to think about trying to get out of the street, to look for his friends.

"Mother fucker," he croaked as his vision started to grey out. The last thing he saw was a pair of shiny Italian-leather dress shoes walking towards him right before oblivion over took his senses.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know. 

Okay, yes this is late in being posted. I know. With real life getting in the way (read my blog if you want a description of the start of my school year) and a slight case of lack of inspiration, this chapter was harder to write than I anticipated.

Thank you to Lorilei (slave driver - I needed it as you know) and TAO (twisted) for pushing me and helping to get and keep me focused. Thank you to the both of you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate you input and support so very much. Also, thank you TAO for the idea of bizarre torture and how to write it. I dedicate my snapping turtle and hand mixer to you. Lorilei, my fellow soccer fan, what can I say??? Thank you for pointing out my errors and issues. I could not have done it without you.

Cheers!


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language

* * *

Alex was currently feeling warm, safe, and happy which was in direct contrast to how he had been feeling earlier: cold, bleeding out of at least five different places on his body, and incredibly pissed.

Here he didn't hurt, everything was light, and he sure as all hell wasn't bleeding to death on a street in South San Francisco. Alex looked around and saw that he was in an oddly familiar library. It felt comforting to stand there in the doorway, looking at the stacks of books, worn tables, and desks. He took a deep breath, breathing in the comforting smell of old paper and leather.

"Didn't we blow this place up at graduation?" he asked no one in particular. "I clearly remember helping to turn the library into a smoking ruin and watching Giles nearly have a stroke over the process of blowing up said library."

"That was the library back in Sunnydale. That library was just a shadow of what is to come. This more like the real thing, though its still not. You'll have to come further in, further up to see the real library," a familiar and welcome voice called from over by the computer station.

"Willow?" he called and stepped further into the room. "Nice usage of The Last Battle, by the way."

"The one and only," the red-head replied with a smile on her face. "Nice to see you still remember those books. Aren't you glad I got you to read them all those years ago?"

"Hey, don't forget me – your most favorite slayer in the entire world. And if you say your favorite is Faith or Taylor, I'll smack you," another familiar voice called.

"Buff!" Alex exclaimed as Buffy stepped out of the weapons' cage and came around the librarian's desk.

Both women came over to their friend and embraced him.

"Xander, things aren't looking so good right now," Buffy said once they broke their three-way hug. There were tears in her eyes. "What's the last thing you remember?" she asked, and pulled on his hand, leading him over to a table and chairs.

Alex shook his head and sat down, remembering all of the times in high school when the three of them, plus Oz and Cordy, would spend long hours in the library doing research or coming up with plans to divert another coming apocalypse with Giles. "Bleeding to death in the middle of a street after I destroyed at least six buildings is the last thing I remember. It was a whole lot of non-fun. Why? Did something else happen? Am I dead?"

Willow smiled and sat down across from him, next to Buffy. "Didn't you technically die when you became Kindred?"

"I like to think of myself as living-impaired. Is this my true and final death then? Why am I here? Not that I'm not happy to see you two again," he added hastily added.

"We've been watching what's been going on Xan. Did you really have to use the snapping turtle and hand mixer, 'cause that was gross," Buffy said looking a bit disturbed.

With that, Alex looked a bit guilty. "In my defense, Cash wanted to use Christmas lights, a croquet set, and blender."

"That makes me feel so much better," Buffy said, sarcasm dripping from her tongue.

"I'm just saying," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "So what's been going on? Am I dead-dead or what?"

"No," Willow said. "You went into a state of Frenzy after losing well over half of your blood. It wasn't pretty. This is just your mind. You've created this world we're in, but we're allowed to visit you here."

"Okay, so I'm in Torpor now. I can deal with that," Alex said, shrugging. He figured he'd get better eventually.

"You attacked Faith Xander," Willow informed him.

Looking shocked, he gestured with his hands for his old friend to stop right there. "I'm sorry but did you just say I attacked Faith? She wasn't with us on the street. She and Tara were waiting for us down the street, safe and sound. How could I have attacked Faith? Is she okay? I really need a rewind button with you guys."

Willow and Buffy exchanged looks, silently debating who would be the one to tell their friend what had happened between the times he had passed out to now.

"Rock, paper, scissor you for it," Buffy told Willow. The two women pounded their fists, Willow going for scissors while Buffy chose paper.

"Damn," Buffy muttered then refocused on Xander. "Before I forget, thank you Xander for putting me in something _classy _this time," she said, gesturing to her hip hugging black pants and itty-bitty red tank top. "I really do like the slutty look."

"Oh goody! Buffy gets the hot chick clothes and I get the weirdo outfit. Did you have to dress me as an _astronaut_ Xander," Willow complained, pointing at the spacesuit that nobody had really noticed until she said something.

Alex did a double-take, thought for a second and Willow's image blurred. When she refocused, she was wearing a long blue wrap-around skirt and a long sleeved t-shirt that she had favored when alive. He then did the same for Buffy, "dressing" her in a more concealing blouse and pants

"Thanks a lot," Willow said, rolling her eyes. "Your mind is like a whacked out a Grateful Dead concert at Disneyland sometimes. Also, what is up with the beaver?" she asked, gesturing to the over-sized rodent that was sitting at the table with them, gnawing on a leather-bound book.

Alex shrugged. "God only knows. Can we get back to what in the hell has happened?" he asked frustrated that he had no idea of what was going on.

"The person you know as Cameron grabbed you off the street. His friends had grabbed Tara and hit Faith with a baseball bat, knocking her out. You guys got set up," Buffy said.

"I think I figured that part out when we got shot up in front of a Napa Auto Parts store. The bullets ripping though my guts were a clue. What happened to Tara and Faith?"

"They took you, Faith, and Tara to a warehouse. It's currently nine forty-two p.m. Tuesday night, by the way. You were bleeding out and out of your mind. Cameron threw you into a cage with Faith. You tried to stop yourself, but you fed off her," Buffy said.

"Is she dead? Please God, don't say that she's dead," Alex begged the women.

"No," Buffy sighed. "She's not dead. You didn't take enough to kill her, but she's not in good shape. You've been out of it since then. They wanted you to be strong enough for tonight. You are supposed to be Cameron's first victim. Faith's blood is strong enough to heal you and leave you coherent for what they want to do to you. She's next after you, by the way."

"What about Tara?"

"She's fine, but she's scared out of her mind," Willow said. "Cameron's threatened her with rape a couple of times then embracing her."

"That fucking piece of crap," Alex growled.

"Watch your language mister," Willow said, using her resolve face. "I will agree that the Brujah is a piece of crap though."

"Sorry for the potty-mouth. What happened after that? Where are we now?"

"You've been sleeping most of the day. While you were in the land of the nod, they loaded all three of you up into a van and drove you guys out to Golden Gate Park. Currently you guys are in the tunnel across from the Conservatory of Flowers. That is the junction of the ley lines that are necessary for the amulet to be charged to its full potential. The moon will reach the correct height soon and Cameron can begin the ceremony. First they want to have some fun with you," Buffy said, a look of sorrow on her face.

"Oh goody, torture," Alex said sourly. "So are you guys here to keep me company until the fun begins, not that I'm not happy to see the two of you."

Buffy sighed. "We're here to bring you a couple of messages from up on high."

"Oh boy," Alex breathed heavily.

Willow nodded sagely. "You're in danger of losing yourself Xander. You were ruthless before, doing what we were too afraid of doing ourselves, but now you are cruel, beyond anything from before. It's like any restraints you ever placed on yourself are gone. You are using the attack on Alexia as an excuse to go all Texas Chainsaw on others. You've forgotten your humanity."

"I'm not human any more Wills, you know that," Alex said tiredly. Deep down, he knew that he had crossed several lines, but had always rationalized away his fears of losing his humanity: it was necessary, the need for information was greater than his personal needs, he was Kindred and no longer constrained by human conventions. He knew that all of them in the end were nothing but bullshit designed to make him feel better and justify his cruelty.

"I know, but that doesn't mean you have to lose your humanity, your ability to feel compassion for others. The further you get from that, the easier it will be for the Beast to control you," the red-headed witch said, looking at her old friend with sadness. "We warned you that all of this would test you, push your limits. This is it."

Alex thought that one over before asking the next question. "What's the second message?"

Buffy took this one. "We, I, never learned that I can't do everything by myself. Sometimes you have to ask for help. What Cameron has in store for you is going to be terrible, but you have to let some humility in and stop carrying the burden all by yourself. It's okay to ask for help," the former slayer said, her eyes full of sympathy and pain for her friend. "You're strong Xander, stronger than any of us ever were, but you need to let go of your pride and let others help you. You can't do this without help."

Alex, not fully understanding why they were telling him this, gave both of them blank looks.

"Scream for help if you need to, someone is listening and help will come. Just ask for it," Willow said. "It's going to start soon and we have to go. I am so sorry that we couldn't take care of all this back in Italy and spare you our headaches. Don't forget what we said."

With that the library, Buffy, and Willow faded from existence. They were replaced by Cameron's leering face, laughing at his predicament: chained to the gate that was used to block access to the short tunnel that ran under the street, stuck with his arms spread wide as if he were a sacrifice on a cross.

"Welcome back Harris," Cameron hissed, "We're going to have some fun you and I."

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know. Please? Don't make me beg.

Thanks to Lorilei for keeping me on task! It's appreciated!


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language, violence, torture, and a tiny Deathly Hollows spoiler (if you are one of the five remaining people in the world that hasn't read the book yet).

* * *

"Welcome back Harris," Cameron hissed, "We're going to have some fun you and I."

"Eat shit and die Cameron," Alex spit, looking up at his bound arms, struggling ineffectively against the ropes and handcuffs that held him in place. While he was stronger than a regular person, he didn't have any leverage to work with, plus he was still weak from the blood loss he had experienced the night before. He also noticed that he was missing his shirt.

"You know, despite the warm weather we've been having, it's kind of cool right now. Do you think you could give me my shirt back? Plus I don't want you and your lackeys to get too jealous of my kick-ass abs. You know, not everyone can be as awesome as me."

"Always with the humor," Cameron observed. "Clearly it's a sign of insecurities and lack of confidence."

"Fuck you to Cameron."

He then looked over Cameron's shoulder and spied Tara and Faith sitting with their backs to the stone wall. Tara looked okay, minus the tears and dirt that streaked her face. Faith however looked like she had been put through the grinder. Her nose had been broken, she had two black eyes, her right cheek was black and blue, and her neck looked as if an animal had been gnawing on it.

Seeing them, Alex glared icy daggers at the Brujah Primogen, trying to will enough Power to him to set the bastard on fire. Unfortunately, he was still weak and his brain felt as if it had been run through a slurpee machine and spit out on to the floor of a really dirty 7-11. He didn't have the control necessary to call onto the elements and the power of the Earth to save his sorry ass from the fucking Brujah golden-boy.

"So how does it feel to be Harry Potter without his wand and lightening bolt scar?" Cameron sneered. "Not so fucking special now are you?"

"So does that make you Voldemart? Cause you know that in the end Harry kicked his ass and beat him," Alex said scornfully. "And I don't use a fucking wand you dip shit!"

"Must be nice to know that dip shit will be your last words," Cameron said a pleasant tone in his voice and he fooled around with a burning trash barrel, placing several think metal rods in the roaring fire.

"Actually I am hoping that my last words will be _with my last breath I curse Zoiyberg_!" Alex laughed, amusing himself, avoiding looking at the women, knowing that seeing them in pain would only enrage him, adding to Cameron's delight.

"Always the funny one, aren't you?" Cameron remarked, smiling tightly.

"I like to think I bring laughter to the hearts of everyone that I touch," he said. "That is, before I rip their fucking hearts out of their chests and then it's me that's laughing."

"So lovely," the Brujah observed. "Does your little brat know you talk like that?"

Alex couldn't help himself as he snarled and lunged ineffectively at the Primogen.

"Don't worry. When I get done with you, your girlfriend, the humans, that little bitch known as Cash, and your fucking prince, I'll make sure your daughter is properly brought up, re-created in my own image and will serve her new father with complete obedience." With that he only laughed at Alex's impotent rage, knowing exactly what buttons to push.

"But first, I want to give us a chance to bond before I drain you of all of your power and make it my own. I want us to become close, to share something special."

"What? You want to become BFFs? Wear matching necklaces proclaiming our lifelong friendship? I should warn you that I did have a BFF once, and well, he became the first vampire I ever staked," Alex ground out, trying to control his anger, remembering his seemingly distant talk with the girls. "I doubt I will have any remorse once I kill you like I did for Jesse."

"Nice," Cameron said. "No, we're going to experience a wonderful sensation together: pain. More specifically, I will be dishing it out and you will be taking it. And afterwards, you are going to watch me torture your human friends right before I kill you."

"Oh well, let's get on with the sharing you fuck. I can't wait," Alex snarked, hoping he sounded a lot braver than he felt. On the inside, he was screaming like a girl.

Cameron smiled a nasty smile. "Very well," he said and pulled out a glowing hot rebar out of the fire.

The Brujah gripped the non-glowing end like a baseball bat and swung away, striking Alex across his stomach. The smell of burning flesh and hair filling the tunnel competed with Alex's screams.

The metal bar sizzled as it made direct contact with Alex's flesh. Each time the rod made contact, Alex let out a scream. He couldn't help it. He wanted to be brave and stoic, but his flesh was being burned with each whack. It fucking _hurt_!

Eventually the rod grew too cool for Cameron's liking, so he tossed it back into the fire and pulled out another one. The beatings continued; Alex's flesh roasted, turning his stomach and chest into flayed meat.

Tara, who had been alert and conscious through-out the whole ordeal, was forced to watch her friend suffer in unbelievable agony. She could smell the sickly meat-smell that was created by the burning rebar that the vampire was using on Alex. She envied Faith's ability to stay unconscious, not having to hear their friend scream and smell the putrid smell that filled the tunnel. Instead, she was forced to watch in horror as Alex writhed and struggled ineffectively against the bonds that held him tight. She wanted to help him, but could think of nothing that would make things better; she found herself wishing that Willow was there to stop this macabre display.

Cameron, by then had grown tired of beating the shit out of Alex. He tossed the metal back into the fire and pulled out another one. This one he held like a javelin in his hand and rammed it into Alex's shoulder.

Alex screamed as the hot metal bored its way through his flesh, muscle, and bone. And if that weren't enough to make him cry like a girl, Cameron started to twist the metal, tearing more tissue in the process, increasing the agony he was experiencing.

Cameron repeated the process, stabbing him though his hands, shoulders, feet, and chest, turning Alex into a human-shaped pin cushion. The only good thing about the whole process, if one could call it _good_, was that because the metal was so hot, it cauterized the wounds, keeping Alex from bleeding out.

Alex still tied to the grate, struggling to find enough energy to speak. "You finished yet fuckhead? 'Cause when I get free I'm going to rip your ball off and shove them down your throat."

"I'll keep that in mind," Cameron said, a pleasant tone in his voice, as if he were actually enjoying himself (which he probably was). "You know, you should be grateful that this is what I'm doing. I originally thought about tying you to a chair with your eyes taped open, making you watch at least ten hours of American Idol."

"You're insane," Alex gasped, shuddering at the thought of watching Sanjaya for anything longer than ten seconds. "I guess it could be worse – you could have included making me watch a Paris Hilton versus Lindsey Lohan celebrity karaoke death match."

"Now that's just cruel," Cameron commented and he then pulled out a knife from the waist band of his tailored pants. "Did you know that a few centuries ago, people would bleed out a witch?"

Upon hearing this, Tara started to squirm.

Cameron, sensing Tara's moment of panic, looked negligently over his shoulder at her. "Oh don't worry sweetheart. I have bigger plans for you. This will be for your buddy Harris here," he said, a grim smile on his face.

Cameron walked over to Alex and sliced his arm along the vein. Blood welled freely out of the wound. He then did the same to the other arm.

The Brujah Primogen grinned at Alex's pain. He then drew close and began to drink from the Gangrel, enjoying the sensation of the rich blood filling his stomach, intoxicating him.

Eventually he pulled away, leaving Alex even weaker than he had been. "Damn, not to sound all gay or anything, but you taste great."

Alex spit at Cameron, too weak to even retort with something witty.

Cameron shrugged and wiped the spittle off his face and checked the time on his TAG Heuer watch, noting that it was now 10:17 pm. It was time.

He opened a wooden box and pulled out the amulet they had all been searching frantically for; the amulet that had cost Buffy and Willow their lives. The Brujah then looped the ornamental piece of crap around his neck. Cameron then picked up a large leather tome and opened it up to a bookmarked page.

"Now this may hurt a bit," he said, holding the book in one hand, and placing the other on Alex's bare and bloody chest.

Alex tried to squirm, to get away somehow, but it was all for naught. He was held in place by the bonds at his wrists and feet, along with the shafts of metal piercing his body. If that weren't enough, he was weakened by being cut and fed off of by Cameron, not to mention getting shot multiple times the night before and working some massive mojo. Overall, the past twenty-four hours sucked ass in a big way.

"Il signore scuro, mi assegna l'accesso all'aereo spiritoso. Diami l'alimentazione di altre, lascilo rubano da loro e rendono loro la miniera," Cameron started to chant, reading from the book. "Lasciati che cosa è suo sono miniera. Lascilo guadagnare tutti che ci deve, lo lascia transformarsi in nel righello di tutti." He repeated the spell over and over, growing louder and louder, gaining confidence with each time he said the words.

Alex's ears picked up a low roaring sound, over Cameron's obnoxious shouting, that steadily increased in volume. A rushing of air accompanied the roar, blowing through the tunnel, whipping everyone and everything with its brutal force.

With the sound and the howling wind, Alex felt a burning sensation spread from where Cameron's hand was touching his skin to all four limbs. It hurt more than the beatings, stabbings, and where the Brujah had cut him. It felt as if every cell in his body was being set on fire and his organs were being pulled out of his body through his navel.

He couldn't help himself. While he had been too weak to speak earlier, he screamed as if his very soul was being torn from his body. The pain was immense; the definition of torture was brought to a new level.

His screams managed to rouse Faith from her near coma. She looked around in shock and horror, taking in the scene in front of her. The last thing she remembered was Alex going absolute ape-shit. He had bit her and there her memories had stopped. Judging by the pain in her neck and the general feeling of being drained, she surmised that he had fed off her. Faith swore that if she got a chance, once he strength returned, she's kill the bastard that caused all of this to happen.

"Cameron! Stop it now!" a voice, ringing of command and authority called out from beyond the tunnel, still on the well-manicured grounds of the Conservatory.

Cameron looked up and saw Luna standing there, along with his Gangrel bitch Cash and several other members of the San Francisco Kindred: Lillie, Daedelus, Sonny Toussaint among the more notable. Also, there was a human with them, Dawn Summers – the sister of the Slayer that was killed by the Samedi in Italy. It didn't matter, no being on earth could stop him now. "Fuck you Luna! After I kill Harris, you'll be the first on my list of people to go. No more princes, no more Masquerade, only me as your god!"

The Brujah instead chose to laugh as he felt Harris' power leave the Gangrel and enter him.

Alex, knowing that his time was short, took one final breath and screamed his voice raw and tortured as his body. "Buffy! Willow! Help me please!"

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know. You know reviews only help to motivate me to write more, and if nobody reviews, I might go into a fit of depression and never finish this story.

I have to say, once again, thank you to TAO or Lorilei. It has been a total blast bouncing ideas off the two of them. Without them, I would have quit this story a long time ago. Thank you to the both of you!

Translation of the spell bit: "Dark Lord, grant me access to the spiritual plane. Give me the power of others, let me steal from them and make theirs mine."

"Let what is his become mine. Let me gain all that there is, let me become the ruler of all." My Italian consists of being able to cuss you out, so I had to rely on a translation program for help. If there are mistakes, I am sorry – blame BabelFish, not me.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and some disgusting imagery (sorry - but it's not too graphic)

* * *

Alex's desperate scream pierced the air, making all within the area cringe due to the raw and tortured sound.

Cameron though just grinned. "Calling to your dead friends? How fucking pathetic," he leered.

Alex hung there, bleeding and sickly pale. He had used up all of his remaining energy, pouring himself into that last scream for help. He had put everything left of him into that last desperate attempt to end the agony of having his power and probably his soul being drained from his body.

The Brujah Primogen, standing there, fairly glowing due the power dump, looked around and shrugged. "If you're done, let's finish this," he hissed, enjoying the look of absolute terror on the Gangrel's face.

Cameron went to place his hand back on Alex's heaving chest, the skin a grayish-blue at this point. The Gangrel was dying, his soul and power were being sucked out of his body and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Stop," a voice from behind Cameron ordered, sounding stronger than steel, yet more gentle than the wind. The voice was familiar and comforting, yet terrifying.

Cameron laughed. "Gods don't have to listen to mortals! I'm the supreme being here!" He was obviously thinking that it had to be one of the girls behind him, lost in his delusions of grandeur.

"No, you are not the Supreme Being – not even close. Stand away from Xander," a new voice commanded.

Cameron turned away from Alex and came face-to-face with two glowing, yet solid figures. "What the fuck are you?" he asked a tinge of fear in his voice.

"Why do they always have to have such a potty mouth?" the red-head said to the blonde. "Do you think it's a trait common to all Kindred?"

"I don't know. Xander certainly has a potty mouth, though he could cuss up a storm before he was Embraced," the blonde said.

"Whatever you are, it's too late, I have Harris' power and there is nothing on earth that can stop me," the Brujah snarled.

The blonde smiled smartly. "Well, it's a good thing that we aren't from earth. 'Cause you're toast. The boss man doesn't like usurpers and he's had it with idiots trying to ruin his creation."

"What are you talking about?" Cameron growled.

"Xander here called for help and He sent us to stop you. Are you that empty headed? Do you think glowing people that can interact with the world can just show up all on their own? They have to be called and then sent by Him," Buffy said, exasperated.

"It's too late. I have his power, I can't be stopped," Cameron protested, slightly worried. He had been so careful in his planning; making sure that every contingency had been accounted for.

"Yes you can," Willow said.

With that both women placed a hand on Cameron and another on Alex. Silver light began to glow from where their hands made contact with the Brujah's skin. The light grew in size and brightness the longer they held on.

The Primogen began to scream as the stolen power was ripped from him. Tendrils of light poured from him and into the golden beings, causing him intense pain and agony.

The light traveled through them and back into Alex, who in turn started to seize, shaking uncontrollably (no one said having his power returned to him was going to be easy). Alex opened him mouth and howled as pain lanced through his body. The area where Buffy's and Willow's celestial hands made contact burned hotter than a thousand suns. What was left of his flesh burned black, leaving his chest to look like a platter of crispy burnt ends.

Cameron was also howling, his screams were competing for volume with Alex's screams. Together they filled the tunnel with a hideous chorus of pain and agony. Both Tara and Faith cringed at the tortured shrieks both individuals were making.

Soon, though it seemed to go on for hours, the two women pulled back and released the Brujah and the Gangrel.

"What was Xander's has been returned to him. We will not kill you Brujah for that is not why we are here. It's not up to us to play judge, jury, and executioner. Your crimes, other than attempting to steal power and a soul that does not belong to you, are an earthly matter and your fellow Kindred will have to deal with you," Willow intoned, looking grave and sad. She then kicked Cameron in the ribs, hard. "My bad – I tripped."

She and Buffy then turned to the women sitting on the dirty floor. Willow stooped down and gently touched Tara's face. Immediately she stopped shaking and was able to sit up.

Buffy also bent down and touched Faith's head. Her wounds were healed, her face repaired and the bruises disappeared. Her neck, which Alex had mauled earlier, mended itself.

Once that was done, they turned back to Alex who was still impaled by the rebar and chained to the gate. While his magical power had been returned and his soul mended, his physical body was still a wreck.

"We can fix what was done to you tonight but we can't fix what was done six years ago," Buffy said.

"That's okay," Alex gasped. "I made my choice and I have to live with it. Besides, except for right now, I don't mind being Kindred. I wouldn't change it even if I could."

"That's good, for you have much you need to accomplish between now and then," Willow said, smiling at her old friend. "Life has much in store for you and your talents will be necessary. Just try not to lose yourself in the meantime."

With a wave of her hand, the rebar that had turned him into a Kindred voodoo doll disappeared. The puncture wounds slowly healed, along with the burnt skin slowly disappeared, leaving behind angry red scars that were shaped like handprints. The knife wounds also closed and healed; trails of dried blood were the only evidence left behind. Even the rope and hand cuffs that held him to the gate disappeared, causing him to fall flat onto his face.

"Thanks," Alex said as he spit out a mouthful of dirt and other debris that he would as soon as not think about. Slowly he picked himself off the ground and stood there, facing his saviors, at a loss for words.

"Be good Xander. We'll miss you, all of you," Buffy quietly said, a look of sorrow on her face.

"Do you have to go?" Alex asked, looking like there were a million things he wanted to say.

"Yes, the boss wants us back. Have a good life and take care of your daughter. Faith, you too, no matter how long or short your life may be, make it a worthwhile one. Tara, my love, I'm so sorry for everything. Please forgive me."

Tara, her eyes shining with tears, nodded. "I love you."

Willow smiled and stepped back to allow Buffy a chance to have her say.

"Be good Xander and give my love to Alexia. Dawnie, take care of yourself and enjoy your life. I am sorry I dragged you into so much. I'll miss you."

"Buffy," Dawn croaked, unable to get out all of the words she wanted to say.

"I know," Buffy said then turned away.

She and Willow smiled and started to walk away arm-in-arm, slowly fading into nothingness.

Once they were gone, Cameron attempted to make a break for it, but he was too weak to fully get away and Cash was too fast for him.

"God might not have wanted them to kill you, but he didn't say I couldn't," the Prince growled, watching the struggling Primogen carefully. "I think the Brujah are going to have to elect someone new to lead them."

"You can't kill me! It's against the rules!" he protested.

"What? And trying to kill Alex and become a god wasn't?" Cash hissed. "You know, even for a Brujah you're really stupid."

Cameron, seeing the evil glint in Julian's eyes increased his efforts to get away.

Alex knowing instinctively what Julian was about to do made his concerns known. "My Prince, while Cameron's crimes were against the Masquerade, the more serious ones were against my daughter, who was under your protection, and me. I reserve the right to seek revenge," he said, speaking formally.

Julian appraised the young Gangrel before him, smiling ever so slightly. "Fine, but the Primogen deserves a chance to escape," he said to Cash. "Let him go."

With that Cash let go of the Brujah who scrambled to get away from the Prince and the Gangrels.

As Alex stood there, a small, but wicked smile played across his lips. He let the Brujah get a safe distance from the others, least he accidentally set them on fire. As Cameron sprinted across the lawn and through the flower beds, crushing marigolds and petunias beneath the heal of his expensive shoes, Alex muttered the same words he used back when he was showing off for Faith after Taylor had been attacked, his eyes glowing with an unnatural light, changing from a gentle brown to a fierce amber, the morphing to a vicious red-orange.

Instead of a pretty flame that was only a few inches in height, flames gushed from Alex's hand. It rushed towards the fleeing Brujah, engulfing his figure, turning him into a living torch.

The others heard Cameron's screams above the roaring of the blaze; they could smell the sickly smell of frying human fat and hair. Everyone stepped back from Alex, afraid that they too would get caught up in the inferno that the Gangrel was unleashing.

All too soon, Alex broke off the spell, ending the gushing inferno, sagging from the effort. While Willow's and Buffy's healing had restored him to normal, their power up did not go beyond fixing his wounds, it didn't give him an extended power source to tap into. "Aw crap," he said as darkness over took him. "Emily's going to be pissed when she sees the flower beds."

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know.

Thank you once again to my partners in crime: Lorilei and TAO. You guys are awesome!

FYI: Burnt ends are chunks of beef blackened on the outside and tender on the inside. It might be a local bar-b-que thing, but if you know what they are, that is a pretty good description of what Alex's chest looked like. BTW, burnt ends and sausage with the right sauce are awesome. Bon appetite!

We are getting down to the end, I think there might be only two more chapters to go, so if you want me to finish in a timely manner, shoot me a review or two and let me know what you think. Seriously, review please! The lack of reviews only makes me sad and not want to write.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language and a smutty moment

* * *

The next night, the entire group from the tunnel, minus the Brujah of course, was sitting in Alex's and Emily's living room. Luna and Sonny had made an appearance earlier, but had left soon after claiming that they had business elsewhere. Unfortunately, Paul had been the only one to not survive the assault on the auto shop. Emily, Lonnie, Cavan, and Cash had been gravely injured; they had survived being shot multiple times. All agreed that if Alex hadn't destroyed the buildings when he did, none of them would have made it out of the street.

The loss of Paul had hit Alex pretty hard – Paul had been one of the very first that had welcomed him into the clan and became his friend. His friend's final death was not something he was going to get over anytime soon. Already he missed the biker who had a penchant for tattoos, The Bloodhound Gang, and Wolverine; his humor and ability to start a fight among a room full of quadriplegic conscience objectors would be a loss to Alex as a friend and clan member.

Emily, thankfully, had survived the shootout. She had been shot several times and had spent the better part of the day in a state of torpor. She got better though, however she was getting pretty tired of it happening to her.

Alexia was sitting on her father's lap on the sofa, happy to be reunited with him once again, quietly amusing herself with her Yurtle the Turtle book while the adults around her talked.

"How did you find us?" Alex asked, one arm wrapped around the tiny figure in his lap and in the other hand was a bottle of Budweiser Select (no overly expensive beers for him) that was more than half finished.

"Well," Dawn answered, "Daedelus got the idea after nearly twenty hours of fruitless searching and recovery time, that since you are her father there should be some sort of connection between you two and thanks to the magical talents that she inherited from you and Anya, her blood would serve as the perfect scrying tool."

"You cut my kid?" Alex yelped, checking his daughter over for injuries.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Jesus Xander! What do you think we are, monsters? No, of course we didn't cut her. Daedelus unbound her powers and let her tap the natural connection between the two of you."

"Oh God, how much of what I was going through did she experience?" Alex looked fearfully down at Alexia, fearing that she had experienced his apparent Frenzy and his attack on Faith.

The former Key smiled weakly. "She missed most of your worst moments, but she did repeat a lot of your potty language. Alexia, through you, was able to hear most of what Cameron was going to do to the three of you," she said, indicating Alex, Faith, and Tara. "She didn't get the specifics of where you guys were exactly, but she gave Daedelus enough clues to figure it out for himself. Alexia mentioned ley lines and with that, Daedelus narrowed the search down considerably. Golden Gate State Park was the last on the list of places we were searching."

"It's always the last place you look," Alex said, nodding. "Well, I for one am glad you guys found us."

"We found you, but it's not like we actually did something," Cash observed from his spot on a chair that had been pulled out of the kitchen for the night. Alex also noted that his sire was sitting awfully close to Dawn.

"Did Daedelus take care of things with Alexia?" he then asked.

Cash nodded, looking at his pseudo-niece. "After he did his hocus-pocus thing, Daedelus re-bound her powers. He didn't want to let her have free reign with them just yet. He said that a five year old with the ability to set the carpet and people on fire was not something he found favorable. Understatement of the year," the Primogen replied, rolling his eyes.

"How did you know that Buffy and Willow would come to help?" Tara asked softly.

"I had another dream," Alex replied. "They told me to call for help and I did. I'm glad they came," he finished, feeling kind of sad right then.

"Do," Dawn asked hesitantly, "you think they're gone, for good?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know Dawnie. I do know that they are very happy where they are right now and that they love the both of you so much," he said, looking between the former Key and the witch.

Everyone felt a melancholy mood overtake the room.

"Alexia," Emily called out suddenly after checking the clock on the DVD player. She then scooped her daughter up off Alex's lap. "You need to get to bed. You have school tomorrow."

"Mom!" Alexia protested loudly, kicking her feet, struggling to be put down. "I want to hear more."

"Tough! We'll tell you all about it tomorrow, but right now you have to get some sleep," Emily said, taking the child out of the room and up stairs to her bedroom. She knew that some adult conversations needed to be had outside of the hearing range of a small kid, and since it was well after Alexia's bedtime, it was time for the munchkin to head off to the land of Nod.

Once the girl was out of the room, Alex started up the conversation. "So what are you three," he asked, nodding at Faith, Dawn, and Tara, "going to do now? Have you talked to Giles by the way?"

Faith stretched and took a long pull from her beer, savoring the malty goodness in a bottle. "I called him while you were passed out from the over use of the mojo and after I made sure the amulet was destroyed. It's amazing how much damage a sledge hammer and Slayer strength can do to tacky, scorched jewelry. I got him to call off the Slayer army. He's still not happy though with any of us, especially you."

Alex smiled at that. He could imagine how not happy Giles was with him. "What are you going to do now that it's been found and destroyed?"

The Slayer smiled. "I've got an early flight out of here. I'm headed back to Cleveland. I've had it with this shit, risking my neck all the time. I'm going to go find Robin, kidnap his ass, and make me some slayer babies. Life's too short to be wasted," she said, grinning. "I deserve some fucking peace, even for a little bit. This adventure taught me that. Seeing you, Emily, and Alexia showed that no matter how fucking crazy life can get – and let's face it, your life is way weird - you need some peace. I'm pretty damn jealous of you Xan. So I'm gonna go get me some."

"Was that a compliment?" Alex said, grinning back at the Slayer.

He moved over on the couch, making room for Emily who just returned from putting Alexia down for the night.

"Go have a good life Faith. You deserve it," Emily said, smiling at the person she originally wanted to toss out of her house at first meeting.

"What about you two?" Cash asked, looking at the humans, especially Dawn. "Are you going back to Rome?"

Tara and Dawn exchanged a few glances.

"W-we have to go back to Rome for our stuff. We talked it over earlier today when you guys were asleep," Tara said quietly. "We're tired of the Council and we know Giles won't trust us after this. I want my own life. I left my father and brother to go to college and get a life of my own. Then when I met Willow, I lost my need for independence. I don't regret being with her, but I just want my freedom back."

"Yeah, I want an education and a life that doesn't involve Sumerian and the finer points in how to kill a Fentora demon. I want my freedom. My life, since day one, has revolved around Buffy. I want something else," Dawn added.

"Where are you going after that?" Alex asked; his arm looped around Emily's shoulders, loving the feel of her cool, silky skin touching his. There was a big part of him that wanted to either throw everyone out of the house or at least go out onto the deck with her right then and there.

"Well, I don't know. I know I want a vacation. After that," Dawn shrugged. "Mr. Luna did say that we were welcome back in his city."

"Really," Cash said, looking at Dawn with a small amount of hope in his eyes and heart, something he hadn't felt for anyone in a long time, not since Sasha.

Dawn only smiled and took a long drink from the glass of rum and coke in her hand. _It had been a week from hell and I sure as all anything deserve a fucking drink_, she thought silently, remembering the shocked look on Xander's face when she poured herself one.

"What about you two? What do you have planned?" Faith asked, grinning broadly. "In the long-run that is. I sure as all hell don't want any details about your sex lives."

Lonnie and Cavan snorted at that one.

"What?"

Lonnie chose to answer that one. "Do you have any idea how many times these two," he pointed at Emily and Alex, "have graced us all at one of our parties with a full on display of those two fucking each other's brains out? They don't need to tell you anything since they are more than happy to show each other."

"Boy Toy, I'm shocked!" Faith laughed at the Gangrels' embarrassment. "Alright, I have one more night of freedom before I go home to boring Cleveland. Which one of you wants to show me a good time, without snacking on me?" she asked, looking directly at Cavan, smiling at him.

"Speaking of snacking, I am sorry Faith for feeding off you Faith," Alex looked a bit guilty at that.

Faith waved him off. "It was nothing. You were having a bad day," she said as she pulled Cavan to his feet. "Come on stud, I saw your bike out there. Let's go."

Alex shook his head as he watched the two leave the house. "Poor guy, he's in way over his head with her. But I am sure the stories will be great."

"You know," Cash said suddenly. "I think Faith had a good idea. You two are leaving tomorrow also, so why don't we go and show you the city and let these two idiots have some quality time."

Dawn and Tara looked at each other and shrugged. It sounded like a better idea than staying in the house listening to Emily and Alex go at it all night long. They had both noticed the looks the two had been giving each other.

Soon, everyone had left the house.

Emily and Alex then took a long look at each other.

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me," Alex said, a playful look in his eyes.

Emily laughed, her head thrown back in amusement.

"Aren't you?"

"Would you like me to?"

"Mrs. Robinson, this conversation is getting a little strange," Alex quoted.

"Just wait until I get you in the bedroom. You haven't seen strange yet," Emily smiled and pulled her lover to his feet and led him off to their room for a night to be remembered and to cause Alex to thank God for his inhuman strength and stamina.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know.

Thank you to Lorilei. I am actually kind of sorry about your boys losing, but thanks for motivating me to finish the chapter.

As for the fate of Dawn and Tara – I know some people (and you know who you are) have suggested that they too should be Embraced and made Kindred. That hasn't been fully decided upon – at least in a public matter…but in my handy-dandy notebook…/evil grins galore/…

Also, bonus points if you can tell me which movie I got the end bit from.

Finally, only one more chapter people…just as an FYI thing.


	20. Epilogue

Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own, much to my displeasure, any BTVS or KTE characters you may recognize. I am just borrowing them for a bit and plan on returning eventually, though they might be a bit scuffed. The characters that you do not recognize are mine to use and abuse.

Warning: Potty language

* * *

The figure hurried down the bricked in street, careful to stick to the shadows and to not trip over the uneven surface beneath his feet. He was followed by another figure, just as careful and silent as he.

He carefully checked the poorly lit building numbers, looking for Via Gozzadini 69, a one bedroom-apartment that his prey kept, separate and away from headquarters, apparently to maintain a sense of balance and preserve what little privacy the man had these days.

Lucky for the predators that were now standing outside the door of the building, the privacy so desired would work in their favor.

The lead figure stood in the shadows cast by a lone lamp that light the entry-way into the building. He checked his watch, impatient with something not defined. Anxiety and worry hung about him like an oversized coat. The weight of the coming confrontation weighed him down more than what the burden of the world did to Atlas.

"Where is he?" the dark figure hissed, impatient for the arrival of his mysterious associate. They had agreed to meet the third member of their party outside of the apartment at two in the morning, and now he was late.

"Here," came a quiet whisper, a shadowy form appeared out of nowhere. "I checked and he's alone. His apartment is on the top floor. There's a fire escape leading from a rear window. All of his neighbors are asleep and he's in his living room, reading."

"Security?" the first figure spoke softly, his eyes fixed not on the new arrival, but on a third story window in the weathered limestone structure.

The third person shook his head. "No alarm system is being used. He has just a deadbolt and a chain on the front door. He feels pretty secure I would say."

"I would say he's grown soft and complacent since they moved their headquarters to the Eternal City," Alex observed, his voice kept low, but easily heard by Cavan and Lonnie. Kindred hearing was much more acute than a human's ability to hear even the quietest sounds.

"You ready for his Alex? You know we'll take care of it for you," Lonnie offered, his focus was on his fellow Gangrel, watching him carefully.

"No," Alex said, his eyes narrowed. "I have to be the one. It's my fault and I have to be the one to fix it. I won't be a chicken shit about it."

"Still, he was the one you considered to be almost like a father to you. You shouldn't have to do it," Lonnie said, looking thoughtful. The large Gangrel, who looked like a biker and wouldn't have the capacity to think of anything beyond how to rebuild an engine or how to kill someone in a creative fashion, was actually one of the deeper individuals within the clan. Of course he could rebuild an engine and knew how to get you to slit your own throat with a toothpick, but he was far from being dumb. He actually preferred it if people did think he was an idiot; they always underestimated him, much to their eventual dismay.

"I want to be the one. I would prefer it," Alex said heavily.

"Fine, but afterwards if you want to talk," Lonnie offered.

Alex allowed a ghost of a smile to play upon his lips. "Thanks. I might just have to take you up on your offer," he shrugged. "Let's get this over with."

Cavan nodded and went across the street to serve as the lookout. He melted back into the shadows, determined to keep a vigilant eye out for a possible trap or a late night visitor that would disrupt their plans.

Lonnie also disappeared. Moving a swiftly and silently as a cat, he returned to his perch on top of a neighboring building, watching the street and surrounding area from upon high.

Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm his already fried nerves. Bending down, he examined the lock to the building's front door. While he figured that he could just kick down the door and get inside just as easy, he didn't want to leave any outward evidence that he had been there. Also, he didn't want to risk any excess noise that would draw attention from neighbors or the police.

He forced himself to calm down, ignoring the acidic taste that was traveling up his throat and into his mouth. "Ianua patefacio," he whispered, lightly touching the door handle. He was rewarded with a tiny click, announcing that the lock had opened. He briefly thought back to the Harry Potter movie Emily had made him sit through, remembering how Harry had learned early on how to open doors with a simple word and a wave of his wand. "I am not Harry _f__ucking_ Potter," he muttered under his breath, hating himself for letting that stray thought leap into his conscious mind.

The former Sunnydale resident looked around, finding himself in tiled, but plain lobby. The walls were plastered and painted yellow and white and the overhead light was an iron chandelier that had been chosen more for its durability rather than any aesthetic reason. The only thing of any real importance was the stairs that led up to the second and third floors.

He took the stairs, moving slowly, careful to stick to the shadows that crawled across the walls, and trying to avoid any creaking planks that would give away his presence.

Soon he found himself on the third floor, standing outside door 3C. It was a heavy wooden door, weathered and aged over time. The brass fixtures on the door looked to be in good repair, despite the amount of wear on them.

He steeled himself, and rapped quietly but firmly on the door. Alex stood back from the door and waited for his knock to be answered.

It took a minute or two, but soon the door opened, revealing the head Watcher. He looked a bit thinner, his face a bit more lined, and his hair a bit more sparse. There were crow lines around his eyes that he didn't remember being there the last time they has seen each other. He was wearing light blue silk pajamas and a red robe. In his hand was a battered paperback copy of An Account of Egypt by Herodotus.

_Time really does keep marching on for the humans while we remain untouched_, he observed silently, taking in the site of his old friend and somewhat-mentor from his high school days.

"Yes," he said, a look of confusion on his face, not seeing Alex standing there in the shadow.

Steeling himself, he stepped forward, allowing Giles to see him. "Evening G-man. We need to talk," he said and pushed the Watcher back into the apartment and closed the door behind him, sealing himself off from the outside world.

The end…for now.

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know what you think.

Well, holy shit! What to say now, but thank you, especially to three every special people out there. Without them (and all of you too, but them especially) this story would never have made it beyond a couple of chapters. I want to thank Lorilei, TAO, and Methos. You guys have been awesome for letting me bounce ideas off you, a bit of proof reading, and me coming to you whining about some odd factoid or two. Thank you for putting up with me and my disturbed mind and ideas. I can't begin to fully express the appreciation I have for the three of you. You taught me a lot and made me laugh, especially when all I wanted to do was cry – thank you!

I would also like to thank (and forgive me if I misspell your name or if I have forgotten someone): liza123, Mookiefraggle, Matthew Blackheart, Dr. Maski, Aria DeLoncray, tdk9992000, Dracowar, Deus ex Sub Ubi, The War General, Bumpkin (thanks for the prodding), Trimma, da bomb, spacemonkey1129, obsidianpoet, Chaos Ronin, mithrilandtj, Yademost Ebyam, Naïve Ghost, slytherinwinds, Bluesnowman, purrfus, Dragonelf, Mama Lady Wolf, zanfib, LFW, martelcris, Infinix, APS, Bobboky, Mrs. Alfred, Loserpower, RemusCDLupin, Lord Corwin, dharkcharlotte, Wauzi, DofEire, Lanhar, Micah, The Wander, darkbear, Hawklan, Willowfan, wraiths, marcus, MMb, Loisosh, chajalive, michaelangelo, VivianCaidin, Altorian, Kizunakat, and Duken.

I don't think I am just done with my NLTZ universe because somebody has been feeding the plot bunnies and they are demanding attention. I will not say when I will return to Alex, Emily, and Alexia, but I will return. I need to work on expanding my ideas of another story, plus I want to refocus on my sequel to my SG1 story (yes, Lorilei – _nekked_ Spacemonkeys galore). Anyways, the more reviews you drop me, the more motivated I will be to quickly return to my NLTZ universe. Go ahead, do it. You know you want to hit the review button…

As for Giles…what do _you_ think? I know, but I'm not telling just yet.

Cheers!


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